Research article summary (published 24 Jun 2006):

Palliative in-patient cancer treatment in an anthroposophic hospital: II. Quality of life during and after stationary treatment, and subjective treatment benefits.

Full Abstract

BACKGROUND: There is an increasing demand for comprehensive forms of palliative cancer care, meeting physical as well as emotional, cognitive, spiritual and social needs. Therapy programs of anthroposophic hospitals are aimed at improving health and quality of life (QoL) at these levels. However, data on the influence of these programs on QoL of patients with advanced cancer are scarce. PATIENTS AND METHODS: 144 in-patients with advanced epithelial cancers were treated at the anthroposophic Lukas Klinik, Arlesheim, Switzerland. QoL was assessed upon admission, discharge and after 4 months, using 20 functional scales from the questionnaires EORTC QLQ-C30, HADS and SELT-M. Statistical testing was performed with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. At month 4, subjectively perceived benefits from anthroposophic medicine (AM) and conventional cancer therapy (CCT) were assessed by telephone. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to provide an account of global, physical, emotional, cognitive-spiritual and social QoL developments in advanced cancer patients, during and after in-patient AM treatment, and to investigate subjective benefits from AM and CCT. RESULTS: QoL improvements were observed in all 20 dimensions (12 significant). Compared to related studies, improvements were fairly high. At month 4, QoL scores had decreased but were still above baseline in all 20 dimensions. Both AM and CCT were perceived as beneficial. CONCLUSION: Our data provide evidence that in-patient therapy at an anthroposophic hospital can lead to significant QoL improvements, especially in emotional, but also global, physical, cognitive-spiritual and social aspects. Benefits of AM were experienced on the physical, emotional, cognitive- spiritual and social level. Benefits of CCT were tumor-focused.

Author information

Author/s: Heusser, Peter (P); Braun, Sarah Berger (SB); Bertschy, Manuel (M); Burkhard, René (R); Ziegler, Renatus (R); Helwig, Silke (S); van Wegberg, Brigitte (B); Cerny, Thomas (T);

Affiliation: Institute for Complementary Medicine KIKOM, University of Bern, Switzerland. peter.heusser(-atsign-)kikom.unibe.ch

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Comment; Journal Article; Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

Journal: Forschende Komplementärmedizin (2006) (Forsch Komplementmed), published in Switzerland. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2006-Jun; vol 13 (issue 3) : pp 156-66

Dates: Created 2006/07/26; Completed 2006/08/24; Revised 2008/06/16;

PMID: 16868361, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

Comments and Corrections

CommentOn: Forsch Komplementmed. 2006 Apr;13(2):94-100. (PMID: 16645289)

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MeSH headings (categories)

This article was linked to the MESH Headings shown below.

Anthroposophy Female Follow-Up Studies Hospitals, Special Humans

Male Neoplasms - psychology; therapy Palliative Care - methods Quality of Life Switzerland

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