The efficacy of homoeopathic simillimum in the treatment of common and flat verrucae

Abstract

The purpose of this placebo-controlled study was to evaluate the efficacy of homoeopathic simillimum treatment of common and flat verrucae, in terms of its clinical manifestations, and the patient's perception to the treatment. It was hypothesized that the patients treated with homoeopathic simillimum would respond favourably in terms of the presenting condition and that their perception of the treatment received would be positive. The study was a clinical trial, in which a placebo group was compared with an experimental group. Convenience sampling was used to gather patients for the trial. Volunteers responded to advertisements that had been placed in various advertising media. Thirty patients were selected from the Greater Durban area. The subjects were of both sexes, all race groups and over ten years of age. The thirty subjects were assessed and if they complied with the criteria for the admissibility of a subject they were accepted into the study. The subjects were divided into two groups, one experimental and the other placebo, according to simple random sampling. The study was conducted under a double-blind protocol that lasted for three months for each patient. The patients were required to complete a Patient Perception Questionnaire during each follow-up consultation in the presence of the researcher. Results were statistically analyzed using the Analysis of Variance test, the Mann-Whitney Utest (inter-group comparison), the Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (intra-group comparison) and the Correlation test.