RESUMO
The effects of homoeopathic medicines on children suffering from recurrent upper respiratory tract infection (URTI) were studied in a randomized double-blind placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted at the paediatric outpatients department of the university hospital of the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam from 1987 to 1992. The study was designed to meet both the requirements of proper homoeopathic practice and the current standards of a clinical trial. The purpose of a randomized placebo-controlled double-blind trial is to identify the effects of the agents under investigation by equalizing the effects of other factors that may influence outcome. The object of the trial, eligibility criteria, follow-up period, treatments and concurrent interventions, data collection and effect measures are discussed in the light of homoeopathic thinking