5382
Rasha Monier Abd-Allah Mansour
Evaluation of Effectiveness of Adjuvant Remedies in Treatment of Allergic Rhinitis in Children
Homeopathy; Allergic rhinitis; quality of life; children.
Background: Homeopathy is one of the most popular of complementary and alternative therapies. Allergic rhinitis is one of the indications for which homeopathy is most frequently used. It is the most common chronic disease in pediatric population, It has a negative impact on quality of life, productivity and performance at work/school. Objective: Evaluation of the effectiveness of homeopathic medicine in the treatment of allergic rhinitis in children. Methods: A prospective, follow-up study was conducted in NRC. Patients aged between 6 and 12 years with diagnosis of allergic rhinitis were treated by homeopathic remedies. Pediatric Rhinoconjuntivitis Quality of life questionnaire (RQLQ), Allergic Rhinitis Nasal Symptoms Score (ARSS), drugs usage and nasal smear eosinophils were done for all Patients at baseline and again after three months of homeopathic treatment. Results: Fifty-three patients were screened, of whom 30 met the study eligibility criteria (average age 8.30±2.322). The mean RQLQ score was 4.44±1.3 at baseline, after 3 months of treatment, the mean had fallen to 2.10±1.66 (P<0.001) with mean reduction percent 52.7%. The mean overall total symptoms score decreased significantly from 9.23±2.07 to 5.57±4.07 (P<0.001), with mean reduction percent 50.48 %. Also, significant reduction in number of patients with positive nasal smears from 100% at baseline to 43.3% after homeopathic treatment and Patients used an average of 3.9 medications before homeopathic treatment and 2 after (P<0.001). Conclusions: After homeopathic treatment, patients reported an improvement of their symptoms of allergic rhinitis as reported in the ARSS, RQLQ, nasal smear eosinophils and drugs usage. Therefore, homeopathy could be effective as adjuvant therapy in treatment of AR.
2017
Ph.d
Ain Shams
Institute of post graduate childhood studies