Positive Health Online

Abstract

HAMRE and co-authors, Institute for Applied Epistemology and Medical Methodology, Freiburg, Germany, harald.hamre@ifaemm.de, have studied Eurhythmy therapy in chronic disease.

Background

Many patients with chronic diseases use complementary therapies. In Germany, several physician-provided complementary therapies have been financed by health insurance companies as part of health benefit programmes. In most of these therapies, the patient has a predominantly passive role. In Eurythmy therapy, however, patients actively exercise specific movements with the hands, the feet or the whole body. The aim of this study was to describe clinical outcomes in patients practising Eurythmy exercises for chronic diseases.

Methodology

In conjunction with a health benefit programme, 419 outpatients from 94 medical practices in Germany, referred to 118 Eurythmy therapists, participated in a prospective cohort study. Main outcomes were disease severity and quality of life (adults: SF-36, children aged 8-16: KINDL, children 1-7: KITA). Participants were followed up for up to 48 months.

Results

Most common indications were ‘mental’ disorders (31.7% of patients with depression, fatigue, or childhood emotional disorder) and musculoskeletal diseases (23.4%). Median disease duration at baseline was 3.0 years (range 1.0-8.5). Median number of Eurythmy therapy sessions was 12 (range 10-19), median therapy duration was 119 days (84-188). All outcomes improved significantly between baseline and all subsequent follow-ups. Improvements from baseline to 12 months were: Disease Score from mean 6.65 to 3.19 (p < 0.001), Symptom Score from 5.95 to 3.49 (p < 0.001), SF-36 Physical Component Summary from 43.13 to 47.10 (p < 0.001), SF-36 Mental Component Summary from 38.31 to 45.01 (p < 0.001), KITA Psychosoma from 69.53 to 77.21 (p = 0.001), and KITA Daily Life from 59.23 to 68.14 (p = 0.001). All these improvements were maintained to the last follow-up. Improvements were similar in patients not using diagnosis-related adjunctive therapies within the first six study months. Adverse reactions to Eurythmy occurred in 3.1% (13/419) of patients. No patient stopped Eurythmy due to adverse reactions.

Conclusion

Patients practising Eurythmy exercises experienced long-term improvement of chronic disease symptoms and quality of life. These findings suggest that Eurythmy can be useful for patients motivated for this therapy.

References

Hamre HJ, Witt CM, Glockmann A, Ziegler R, Willich SN, Kiene H. Eurythmy therapy in chronic disease: a four-year prospective cohort study. BMC Public Health 7:61, 2007.