Is complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) cost-effective? a systematic review

Table 3 Types of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) therapies studied for various conditions (full/partial economic evaluations)

	Acupuncture	Homeopathy	Manual therapy	Spa therapy	Mind-body therapy	Hypnosis	Botanical medicine	Nutritional supplements	Diet	Biofeedback	Hyperbaric oxygen therapy	Miscellaneous*	TOTALS†
Populations with mixed conditions‡		3/2			2/1			0/1				0/1	10
Back, neck, and/or leg pain	1/0		5/0				1/0					1/0	8
Surgery						2/1		2/0					5
Cardiac patients					2/0			1/0	1/0				4
Rheumatic disorders		0/1		1/0						1/0			3
Epilepsy									0/3				3
General costs	0/1		0/2										3
Allergy		0/1										1/0	2
Cancer chemotherapy					2/0								2
Diabetic ulcers											2/0		2
Dyspepsia	1/0	1/0											2
EENT in children		1/1											2
Headache/migraine	2/0												2
Midwifery/obstetrics										1/0		0/1	2
Miscellaneous§		1/0		2/0	1/0		1/0	1/2	2/0				10
TOTALS†	5	11	7	3	8	3	2	7	6	2	2	4	60

EENT = Eye, ear, nose, and throat conditions
* Miscellaneous CAM therapies include: multivitamins, shoe orthoses, electrodermal screening, and aromatherapy.
† Some studies compared more than one CAM therapy. Therefore, totals exceed the number of studies found.
‡ Populations with mixed conditions include: patients with chronic disease, patients at one general practice (4 studies), long-term care workers, persons in Quebec health system, inner city children, and older adults (2 studies).
§Miscellaneous conditions include: anxiety, Parkinson's, psoriasis, uterine fibroids, urinary tract infection, macular degeneration, severe burn, AIDS, obesity, and hypertension.

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