This study describes the development of a preliminary version of an instrument that attempts to assess the quality of reports of individualized homeopathic prescriptions in clinical trials and observational studies.

To our knowledge, prescription of homeopathic medicines by homeopathic undergraduate students has not been studied before though it may possess serious implications. We aimed to determine the practice and attitudes of prescription by homeopathic undergraduate students.

OBJECTIVEThis study describes the development of a preliminary version of an instrument that attempts to assess the quality of reports of individualized homeopathic prescriptions in clinical trials and observational studies.

METHODSA multidisciplinary panel of 15 judges produced an initial version of the instrument through iterative Delphi rounds and pilot-tested the instrument on five clinical trials. Later they assessed, under blind conditions, the individualization quality of 40 randomly-selected research reports. The final version of the instrument included six criteria. These items were scored consistently by all the raters regardless of background.

RESULTSThe instrument appeared to have adequate face and content validity, acceptable internal consistency or reliability (Cronbach's α 0.606 - 0.725), significant discriminant validity (F = 398.7; P < 0.000 1), moderate interrater reliability (Fleiss κ 0.533), agreeable test-retest reliability (Cohen's κ 0.765 - 0.934), moderate sensitivity (0.4; 95% confidence interval 0.253-0.566), and high specificity (1.0; 95% confidence interval 0.891-1.000).

CONCLUSIONThe initial data suggest that this instrument may be a promising systematic tool amendable for further development.

Adult ; Evaluation Studies as Topic ; Female ; Homeopathy ; standards ; Humans ; Male ; Precision Medicine ; standards ; Quality Control ; Surveys and Questionnaires

OBJECTIVETo our knowledge, prescription of homeopathic medicines by homeopathic undergraduate students has not been studied before though it may possess serious implications. We aimed to determine the practice and attitudes of prescription by homeopathic undergraduate students.

METHODSA cross-sectional study was carried out involving all the students from four government homeopathic schools of West Bengal, India. Ethical requirements were ensured and data were collected using self-administered questionnaires. Chi-square tests and logistic univariate regression analyses were performed to identify associations and differences.

RESULTSA total of 328 forms were completed. Of these, 264 (80.5%) homeopathic undergraduate students admitted of prescribing medicines independently and most (40.5%) said that they did this 2-3 times a year. The most common reasons for this were 'urgency of the problem' (35.2%), 'previous experience with same kind of illness' (31.8%), and 'the problem too trivial to go to a doctor' (25.8%). About 63.4% of the students thought that it was alright to independently diagnose an illness while 51.2% thought that it was alright for them to prescribe medicines to others. Common conditions encountered were fever, indigestion, and injury. Students who prescribed medicines were more likely to belong to Calcutta Homeopathic Medical College and Hospital (odds ratio = 5.8; 95% confidence interval 2.247-14.972). Prescription by students gradually increased with academic years of homeopathic schools. Many students thought it was alright for students to diagnose and treat illnesses.

CONCLUSIONPrescription of medicines by homeopathic undergraduate students is quite rampant and corrective measures are warranted.

Adult ; Cross-Sectional Studies ; Drug Prescriptions ; standards ; statistics & numerical data ; Female ; Homeopathy ; education ; manpower ; standards ; Humans ; India ; Male ; Students ; statistics & numerical data ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Young Adult