Supplementary Material for: Individualized Homeopathic Medicines in the Treatment of Generalized Anxiety Disorder: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled, Pilot Trial

<b><i>Introduction:</i></b> Evidence favoring homeopathy in generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) remains scarce. The objective of this pilot trial was to test feasibility of a definitive trial in future. We also experimented whether individualized homeopathic medicines (IH) plus psychological counseling (PC) can produce significantly different effects beyond placebo plus PC in the treatment of GAD. <b><i>Methods:</i></b> A double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled, parallel arm, pilot trial was conducted on 62 GAD patients at the National Institute of Homoeopathy, India. GAD-7 questionnaire and Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A) were used as the primary and secondary outcomes, respectively, measured at baseline and 3 months. Patients received either IH plus PC (<i>n</i> = 31) or identical-looking placebo plus PC (<i>n</i> = 31). Intention-to-treat sample was analyzed to detect group differences using unpaired <i>t</i> tests. <b><i>Results:</i></b> Recruitment and retention rates were 56 and 90%, respectively. Mean age was 31.5 years; 56.5% were male. GAD-7 reductions were non-significantly higher in IH than placebo (<i>p</i> = 0.122). Group differences on HAM-A favored IH significantly (<i>p</i> = 0.018). Effect sizes were small to medium. <i>Calcarea carbonica</i> was the most frequently indicated medicine. No serious adverse events happened. <b><i>Conclusions:</i></b> A small but positive direction of anxiolytic effect was observed favoring homeopathy over placebo. A definitive trial appeared feasible in future.