Patient Characteristics and Practice Patterns of Physicians Using Homeopathy

Archives of Family Medicine, November Vol 7, p 537-40 1998.

The authors surveyed 27 physicians who specialize in homeopathy, soliciting information about their patients. They compared these findings with national statistics on patients treated by general and family-practice physicians. Their findings complement data published in France, detailed below. Physicians using homeopathy spent more time than the national average with each patient, but ordered fewer tests and prescribed fewer conventional medicines. The authors-- -- also found that patients who see homeopathic physicians are younger, more affluent, and more likely to be seeking treatment for a chronic condition than those seen by a cross-section of general and family-practice physicians. The study was funded by Boiron Research Foundation.