Abstract
M.Tech. (Homoeopathy)
Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a term used to describe a group of mental, physical and behavioural symptoms which occur cyclically one to two weeks prior to menstruation and are relieved at the onset of menses. As estimated by The American College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists 85% of menstruating women experience at least one symptom of PMS. Symptoms vary on a scale of intensity and can be severe enough to interfere with personal and occupational routines. Conventional treatments focus on symptomatic relief however they are limited in their action and are associated with many side effects. Numerous studies have been conducted on the homeopathic treatment of PMS however these studies have not been subjected to a review.
The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review of the therapeutic effects of homeopathic treatment on premenstrual syndrome.
A systematic literature review was conducted based on electronic articles sourced from various online databases. An extensive database search was conducted in order to identify any literature pertaining to the homeopathic treatment of PMS between 1996 and 2015. The initial database search sourced 63 articles, however, after screening results for studies in English language which had to be randomised control trials (RCTs), non-randomised control trials (non-RCTs), case series, observational studies or mixed-method studies, a total of seven articles remained.
Each article was summarised to provide an overview of the methodology, results and ethical considerations. All RCTs and non-RCTs were evaluated by two independent reviewers, the student and the supervisor, using The Checklist for Measuring Study Quality created by Downs & Black (1998). The remaining study designs were evaluated using The Quality Assessment Tool for Studies with Diverse Designs by Sirriyeh et al. (2011). The scores of the reviewers were depicted in a table along with the agreed score decided by the two reviewers after deliberation. A discussion was formulated based on the results of the checklists.
Of the seven articles subjected to review, four ranked “Good”, two ranked “Fair” and one article ranked “Poor.” All but one of the studies showed positive effects of the use of homeopathic treatment for PMS. After taking into consideration various aspects...