Gesundheitswesen. 2001 Apr; 63(4): 242-7.

[Changes in quality of life during acute inpatient naturopathic treatment--results of the Blankenstein model]

Beer AM, Ostermann T, Matthiessen PF.

Modellabteilung f�r Naturheilkunde Klinik Blankenstein, Herdecke.

AIM OF THE STUDY: To check the possibilities and limitations of naturopathic treatment in in-patient care, a department of naturopathy was set up as a model project at the Hospital Blankenstein, Hattingen, in January 1997. In accordance with the plans and concepts of the Ministry For Women, Young People, Family And Health of the land North-Rhine Westphalia and the Federation of Statutory Health Insurance bodies, the department of naturopathy is designed to receive scientific support by the Chair of Medicine Theory for a total of three years, starting July 1, 1999. Focus is on the following question: How will a three-week in-patient treatment with naturopathic methods affect the quality of life of patients, based on a prepost-comparison and a follow-up over 6 months? METHODS: A prospective observation study with 4 defined times of measurement (hospitalisation, discharge, 3 and 6 months after the end of the in-hospital stay) and an analysis of the subgroups of patients with rheumatic diseases was carried out. The study comprised 618 patients of the department of naturopathy who were treated for rheumatic diseases, metabolic diseases, chronic bronchial diseases and allergic complaints between July 1, 1999 and June 13, 1999. The average age was 57.3 years and the median was 58 years. 71.3% of the patients were of gainful employment age, i.e. between 17 and 65 years old. The therapy consisted of serial treatments with classical naturopathic methods (hydrotherapy, phytotherapy etc.) adapted to the patients' individual needs. The aim parameter was the quality of life of the patient, measured by SF-36 and HLQ. RESULTS: All subscales as well as the total scores of life quality showed highly significant improvements (t-test, p < 0.01) between the times of 'hospitalisation' and 'discharge'. During follow-up these values stabilised on a level significantly higher than the initial level. Patients with rheumatic diseases showed a different profile compared to patients with similar diseases. CONCLUSION: Results show a stabilisation of patients during follow-up, demonstrating the long-term effect of the applied treatment. This is of special importance of naturopathy, as the temporal dimension of treatment is important in this context, and as it is often asserted that a manifestation of a therapeutical success is obvious mainly on a long-term basis.