Despite its widespread use, homeopathy lacks a comprehensive and robust evidence base. Funders, researchers, and practitioners need direction on how to improve clinical research on homeopathy to provide robust evidence on its efficacy, comparative effectiveness, and safety. The authors discuss findings from a review of homeopathic clinical research studies and from expert panel deliberations to identify gaps in research quality and areas studied.
Authors
Coulter, Ian D., Maglione, Margaret A., Newberry, Sydne J., Herman, Patricia M., Crawford, Cindy C.
- Division
- RAND Health Care RAND REACH Center
- Pages
- 83
- Published in
- United States
- RAND Identifier
- RR-A3242-1
- RAND Type
- report
- Rights
- RAND Corporation
- Series
- Research Reports
- Source
- https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RRA3242-1.html
Table of Contents
- About This Report 3
- Acknowledgments 4
- Summary 5
- Issue 5
- Approach 5
- Key Findings 5
- Results of the Review of the Homeopathic Clinical Research Literature 5
- Results of the Expert Panel Deliberations 6
- Recommendations 7
- Contents 8
- Figures and Tables 10
- Figures 10
- Tables 10
- Introduction 11
- Challenge to Homeopathic Research 11
- Rationale and Scope for the Current Study 13
- Organization of This Report 14
- Summary of Results 15
- Results of the Review of the Homeopathic Clinical Research Literature 15
- Results of the Expert Panel Deliberations 16
- Recommendation 1 Follow Reporting Guidelines 17
- Recommendation 2 Monitor and Report Safety and Adverse Events 19
- Recommendation 3 Identify and Publicize Exemplar Studies 20
- Recommendation 4 Increase Homeopathic Research Expertise 21
- Recommendation 5 Validate External and Model Validity Tools for Use in Homeopathic Research 22
- Recommendation 6 Establish Decisionmaking Groups for the Homeopathic Research Community 23
- Targeting Studies to Particular Types of Homeopathy Conditions and Populations 23
- Strategies for Improving the Quality of Homeopathic Research 24
- Conclusion 25
- Methods and Detailed Results from the Review of Published Homeopathic Research Literature 26
- Methods 26
- Sources of Literature 26
- Study Inclusion and Exclusion Criteria for the Literature Review 27
- Data Abstraction 27
- Assessments of Validity 28
- Internal Validity 28
- External and Model Validity 30
- Data Synthesis and Analysis 33
- Results 33
- Characteristics of Reviewed Studies 35
- Quality Assessment of Reviewed Studies 41
- Internal Validity 41
- External Validity 43
- Model Validity 47
- Limitations of This Review 49
- Summary 49
- Methods and Detailed Results from the Expert Panel Deliberations 51
- Methods 51
- Steering Committee 51
- Panel Selection 51
- Engagement with Panel 51
- Results 53
- Key Question 1 Is Homeopathic Research Missing Important Areas of Study in Terms of the Conditions and Populations Studied 53
- Priority Areas for Homeopathic Research in Terms of Populations and Conditions 54
- Key Question 2 Are the Right Types of Homeopathy Being Studied 55
- Priority Areas for Homeopathic Research in Terms of the Types of Homeopathy to Study 56
- Key Question 3 What Aspects of Research Quality Do Homeopathic Studies Most Reflect in Terms of Internal External and Model Validity 57
- Quality of Homeopathic ResearchInternal Validity 58
- Quality of Homeopathic ResearchExternal Validity 60
- Quality of Homeopathic ResearchModel Validity 63
- Key Question 4 What Types of Future Studies Are Needed to Fill Gaps in Knowledge and Quality 65
- Priority Recommendations for Research Quality Improvement 66
- Limitations 67
- Summary 68
- Abbreviations 69
- References 70
