Conclusion
Patients with sinusitis treated with 'classical' homeopathy showed marked health and quality of life improvements that lasted for 8 years. The extent to which the observed effects are due to lifestyle regulation and placebo or context effects associated with the treatment needs clarification in the future from more explanatory studies.
Abbreviations
WHO: World Health Organization; ICD: International Classification of Diseases; NRS: Numerical Rating Scale; QoL: health-related Quality of Life; MOS SF-36: Medical Outcomes Trust 36-Item Short Form Survey Instrument; KINDL: KINDer Lebensqualitätsfragebogen; Cn: nth Centesimal potency; Qn: nth Quinquagintamillesimal potency; GP: General Practitioner; RCT: Randomized Controlled Trial; ENT-specialist: Ear, Nose and Throat specialist
Competing interests
This work was supported by a grant from the Karl und Veronica Carstens-Foundation, D-Essen, for SNW and CMW. All authors had full access to all the data in the study and take responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis. Conflicts of interest: None.
Authors' contributions
CMW conceived and designed the study, interpreted the data, drafted and revised the article. RL designed the study, analysed the data (statistics), revised and approved the article. SNW secured funding, designed the study, revised and approved the article. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.
Acknowledgements
We want to thank the participating physicians for their work and the patients for their cooperation. We thank Elvira Krüger for data acquisition and Karin Weber and Katja Wruck for data management.