A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled efficacy trial of individualized homeopathic treatment of geriatric depression

Depressionis the most common mental disorder in community settings, and is a major causeof disability across the world. In 1990, it was the fourth commonest cause ofloss of disability adjusted life years in the world, and by 2020, it isprojected to become the second commonest cause. A range of therapeutic approachesare available, the most widely used, in developed countries, is antidepressant drugs.Still, there still remain flaws in the treatment of depression withantidepressants, in terms of efficacy, adverse effects, toxicity overdose, non-complianceto treatment and delayed onset of their therapeutic response. Use of homeopathyto treat psychiatric problems is widespread, and the need for more high qualitycontrolled trials has been identified. Meta-analyses and systematic reviewshave drawn mixed conclusions as to whether homeopathy is more effective thanplacebo in general medicine. Theauthors undertook a cross-sectional validation survey, followed by open,observational trial involving 60 patients suffering from geriatric depression inthe geriatric outpatient of Midnapore Homeopathic Medical College &Hospital (MHMC&H), Govt. of West Bengal, India from May 2015 to April 2016using Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS). After3 months of treatment, moderate to large effect size was observed and the questionnaire psychometrics appearedsatisfactory. Theauthors intend to undertake a multicenter placebo-controlled double-blindrandomized efficacy trial of individualized homeopathic treatment on minimum150 patients suffering from geriatric depression at Midnapore HomoeopathicMedical College and Hospital (MHMC&H), Mahesh Bhattacharyya HomoeopathicMedical College and Hospital (MBHMC&H); and The Calcutta HomoeopathicMedical College and Hospital (CHMC&H). We hypothesize that individualizedhomeopathic treatment may produce effect significantly different from placeboin treatment of geriatric depression. The outcome measures are Geriatricdepression score questionnaire and Quality of Life Scale score questionnaire,to be measured at baseline and after 3 months. Intervention is planned asadministering indicated homeopathic remedies in centesimal potencies orplacebo, indistinguishable from verum. The generated results will be analyzedin the end using appropriate statistical tests and the results will bepublished in scientific research journals.