We are extremely proud to announce that we have just had published a research study investigating the OHC approach in the British Medical Journal Open!
Founder and CEO Alex Howard says:
“We are hugely proud of everyone that has been involved with making this study happen. For a privately funded clinic we have made an unprecedented investment in research over recent years and it is very heartening to see this continue to come to fruition. We are now working on plans for a randomized controlled trial (RCT), and look forward to inviting support to make this possible over coming months.”
You are able to read the full study here
You can watch a video discussing the paper with the authors Dr Megan Arroll and Alex Howard
here
You can download the press release here: Press release
Answers to some FAQs are below. If you would like to make a comment below the paper on the BMJ website that would also be a help!
FAQs:
What does this study tell us about the utility of the OHC approach?
This study shows statistically significant improvement in all three treatment groups between the start of treatment and three months later in key measures such as fatigue. Because this is a preliminary prospective study, we can not at this stage draw any conclusions about effectiveness of treatment, but the statistical changes provide a clear rationale for a randomized controlled trial (RCT).
I notice there are some limitations of the study such as no control group, follow up only at three months, and also high drop out rates of the study, is this normal?
Yes, such limitations are very normal in a preliminary study such as this. Research is a very complex and expensive process, which is why we are only the second private ME/CFS clinic to ever do such a study (the other was Dr Teitalbaum’s clinic in 2001). These are all factors we will address in the future RCT.
Why did the study have high drop out rates?
It is worth noting that the drop out rates were not people dropping out of treatment, they were people not completing the questionnaires at three months. There are several reason for this. Firstly, anyone experiencing the depth of the OHC approach will be aware at how much there can be to do, making filling in optional questionnaires challenging. Secondly, we didn’t at the time of data collection have a dedicated researcher supervising the process, and so we were depending upon people completeing the second questionnaire without a reminder. Finally, energy resources are limited for our patient group, and so whereas at the start of the study patients filled in questionnaires at the same time as their clinical questionnaires , for the follow-up this was different and we believe participants simply prioritized focusing on their actual recovery.
Why did you select the journal the British Medical Journal Open?
We selected the BMJ Open as being part of the British Medical Journal Group it has an internationally respected ‘gold’ standard of research. Secondly, it is open access which means that the entire study can be read by anyone with an internet connection (as opposed to those with a subscription), which we felt was important given most patients would not have a subscription to the printed journal. Finally, the entire review process is open to anyone interested in reading it, so if you would like to find out more about what the reviewers had to say and our responses, the correspondence is available to read with the article.
What are your research plans for the future?
We are now working on plans for a full randomized controlled trial (RCT) which will address the issues of this preliminary study and be a major step towards providing an evidence base for the OHC approach, which will hopefully lead to NHS funding being available for treatment. An RCT is obviously a very expensive and involved process, but we hope to have some further news on our plans for this in the coming months
Thanks to everyone that has supported us getting here!