Effectiveness of homoeopathic therapeutics in the management of childhood autism disorder

Abstract

Background and Objectives: Childhood autism is severe and a serious disorder. A study was conducted by Spandan holistic institute of applied Homoeopathy, Mumbai, with the objective of demonstrating the usefulness of homeopathic management in autism. Materials and Methods: Sixty autistic children of both sexes, ≤12 years were selected for this study. It was nonrandomized, self‑controlled, pre and post‑intervention study, wherein the initial 6 months of observation period was used as the control period and the same patients were thereafter treated for 1 year and compared with post‑intervention findings. Results: The study demonstrated significant improvement of autistic features with mean change in ATEC score (ATEC1‑pre‑treatment with ATEC5‑post‑treatment) was 15.12 and ATEC mean percent change was 19.03. Statistically significant changes in ATEC scores were observed in all the quarters analyzed through repeated measures ANOVA, with F‑value 135.952, P = 0.0001. An impact was observed on all core autistic features, which included communication, 12.61%, socialization, 17%, sensory awareness, 18.82%, and health and behavior, 29% (P = 0.0001). Significant improvement was observed in behavior by Autistic Hyperactivity Scale, AHS1 36 to AHS5 14.30 with F‑value 210.599 (P = 0.0001). Outcome assessment was carried out using MANOVA, which showed statistically significant changes in post‑treatment scores, P < 0.005. Total 88.34% cases showed improvement, 8.33% showed status quo, and 3.33% cases worsened. Nine out of 60 cases showed a reversal of CARS putting them into non‑autistic zone, P = 0.0001. A sharp decrease (34%) in ATEC scores, in the first quarter implied positive effect of homoeopathic medicines, prescribed, as per the homoeopathic principles. Conclusion: The study has demonstrated usefulness of homoeopathic treatment in management of neuropsychological dysfunction in childhood autism disorder, which is reflected in significant reduction of hyperactivity, behavioral dysfunction, sensory impairment as well as communication difficulty. This was demonstrated well in psychosocial adaptation of autistic children.