German investigators conducted a prospective cohort study aimed at characterising patients seeking homoeopathic care and their treatment. From September 1997 to June 1999, patients of all age groups who were visiting a homoeopathic care centre for the first time were included consecutively in the study and followed up for 24 months. Diagnostic procedures and prescriptions were documented using specific case report forms. A total of 3981 patients were included in the study: 2851 adults and 1130 children. Almost all patients suffered from chronic conditions. The most frequent diagnoses were allergic rhinitis in adult males, headache in adult females and atopic dermatitis in children (both genders). The typical homoeopathic initial consultations took 117 ± 43 min for adults and 86 ± 36 min for children. Patients had on average 8.6 ± 9.3 (adults) and 8.9 ± 9.6 (children) consultations, approximately 50% each by telephone and face-to-face. Physicians most often prescribed the classical remedies (such as sepia, sulfur, natrium mur. and lycopodium), but in total nearly 600 different homoeopathic remedies were used.