Evaluation of the economic impact of the care of childrem affected by IRR on the average expenses fo families

Complementary medicine is more and more used in children and though its clinical outcome has not been clearly assessed. The aim of our group is to evaluate, besides clinical result, the role of biotherapies in a bio-psycho-social environment. In another study we compare the quality of life in families with children affected by atopic dermatitis, who received biotherapic treatment, before and after, by DFIQ. Preliminary results of this study show a clear improvement of indexes for these families. So, in this psycho-social perspective we led this other study, aiming at evaluating the treatment costs in children of age 3 to 6 attending kindergarten and affected by Recurrent Respiratory Infection (IRR), the so called “ever sick children”. The expenses evaluation difference was considered between families who use allopathic therapy, and families who use complementary therapies, from January to April. So far , as the first results are being gathered , the emerging impression referring to some of the sheets points out that some of the pure complementary medicine utilizes shows significant costs as the season starts , but on the long run meet lowering expenses both about illness ( sick child ) and social charges ( school and working days loss ). The Complementary Medicine treated children show a significantly smaller number of diseases all over the examined season. The average cost of conventional care treatment stands between 100 and 150 euro during the 4 months , while the charge of CAM was 100 -150 euro of actual cost . The expenses for CAM treatments are associated to a smaller number of diseases and therefore, as for social costs, CAM user´s expenses prove less charging.