| Diagnoses and visit length in complementary and mainstream medicine. | |
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MedLine Citation:
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PMID: 20100343 Owner: NLM Status: MEDLINE |
Abstract/OtherAbstract:
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BACKGROUND: The demand for complementary medicine (CM) is growing worldwide and so is the supply. So far, there is not much insight in the activities in Dutch CM practices nor in how these activities differ from mainstream general practice. Comparisons on diagnoses and visit length can offer an impression of how Dutch CM practices operate. METHODS: Three groups of regularly trained physicians specialized in CM participated in this study: 16 homeopathic physicians, 13 physician acupuncturists and 11 naturopathy physicians. Every CM physician was asked to include a maximum of 75 new patients within a period of six months. For each patient an inclusion registration form had to be completed and the activities during a maximum of five repeat visits were subsequently registered. Registrations included patient characteristics, diagnoses and visit length. These data could be compared with similar data from general practitioners (GPs) participating in the second Dutch national study in general practice (DNSGP-2). Differences between CM practices and between CM and mainstream GP data were tested using multilevel regression analysis. RESULTS: The CM physicians registered activities in a total of 5919 visits in 1839 patients. In all types of CM practices general problems (as coded in the ICPC) were diagnosed more often than in mainstream general practice, especially fatigue, allergic reactions and infections. Psychological problems and problems with the nervous system were also diagnosed more frequently. In addition, each type of CM physician encountered specific health problems: in acupuncture problems with the musculoskeletal system prevailed, in homeopathy skin problems and in naturopathy gastrointestinal problems. Comparisons in visit length revealed that CM physicians spent at least twice as much time with patients compared to mainstream GPs. CONCLUSIONS: CM physicians differed from mainstream GPs in diagnoses, partly related to general and partly to specific diagnoses. Between CM practices differences were found on specific domains of complaints. Visit length was much longer in CM practices compared to mainstream GP visits, and such ample time may be one of the attractive features of CM for patients. |
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Authors:
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Phil J M Heiligers; Judith de Groot; Dick Koster; Sandra van Dulmen |
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Publication Detail:
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Type: Comparative Study; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Date: 2010-01-25 |
Journal Detail:
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Title: BMC complementary and alternative medicine Volume: 10 ISSN: 1472-6882 ISO Abbreviation: BMC Complement Altern Med Publication Date: 2010 |
Date Detail:
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Created Date: 2010-03-08 Completed Date: 2010-07-27 Revised Date: 2010-09-27 |
Medline Journal Info:
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Nlm Unique ID: 101088661 Medline TA: BMC Complement Altern Med Country: England |
Other Details:
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Languages: eng Pagination: 3 Citation Subset: IM |
Affiliation:
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NIVEL (Netherlands institute for health services research), PO Box 1568, 3500 BN Utrecht, The Netherlands. |
Export Citation:
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| MeSH Terms | |
Descriptor/Qualifier:
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Acupuncture
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methods,
statistics & numerical data Adult Complementary Therapies / methods, statistics & numerical data* Diagnosis, Differential Family Practice / methods, statistics & numerical data* Female Homeopathy / methods, statistics & numerical data Humans Male Middle Aged Naturopathy / methods, statistics & numerical data Netherlands Office Visits* Physician-Patient Relations* Professional Practice / statistics & numerical data Time Factors |
| Comments/Corrections | |
From MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine
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