[What's the evidence base for non-medical and non-technical therapeutic interventions?]

Health-related interventions that do not include drugs or technical procedures have not appeared very often in the German Federal Joint Committee's (GBA) evidence-based decision making process over the last years. In this regard the GBA has so far never given any instructions to the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG). The level of evidence for these methods is often limited by the lack of randomised controlled trials. The available studies often show a high risk of bias because of poor planning, processing and reporting as well as lack of blinding. External validity is often limited by use of a standardised monotherapy in the study, but a mix of different, individualised methods in the field. Another common problem is the lack of patient-related, long-term outcome variables. Further research is needed to develop methods for high-quality trials and evidence-based assessments in the area of non-medical, non-technical therapeutic interventions. (As supplied by publisher).