Cost effectiveness of complementary treatments in the United Kingdom: systematic review

doi:10.1136/bmj.38625.575903.79

BMJ 2005;331:880-881 (15 October), doi:10.1136/bmj.38625.575903.79

Paper

Cost effectiveness of complementary treatments in the United Kingdom: systematic review

Peter H Canter, research fellow¹, Joanna Thompson Coon, research fellow¹, Edzard Ernst, director of complementary medicine¹

¹ Complementary Medicine, Peninsula Medical School, Universities of Exeter and Plymouth, Exeter EX2 4NT

Correspondence to: P H Canter peter.canter@pms.ac.uk

The first 150 words of the full text of this article appear below.

Introduction

Cost effectiveness data form a crucial part of the debate surroundingthe integration of complementary treatments into the NHS. Toour knowledge, studies of the cost effectiveness of complementarytherapies in the United Kingdom have not previously been reviewed.

Methods and results

We systematically searched seven electronic databases and includedall prospective controlled studies, done in the UK before April2005, of the cost effectiveness of complementary treatments(see bmj.com). We excluded cost minimisation studies becausecomplementary treatments are insufficiently tested in the NHSto warrant the assumption that they are as effective as conventionaltreatments. Five studies, all randomised, were included, oneof acupuncture for chronic headache and four of spinal manipulationfor different types of spinal pain (table).

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Cost effectiveness studies done in the United Kingdom before April 2005 of complementary treatments, excluding cost minimisation studies

Acupuncture was an effective addition to usual care for chronicheadache.¹ Total . . . [Full text of this article]

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Ernst, E. (2009). Research Into Complementary/Alternative Medicine: A Personal Comment. Complementary Health Practice Review 14: 51-54
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Cost effectiveness of complementary treatments- all of them or only selected ones: Reinhard W SCHWARZ
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Is it a fitting systematic review?: Luigi Gori, et al.
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