SynthesisEuropean journal of clinical pharmacology2006
A meta-analysis of the placebo response in acute migraine and how this response may be influenced by some of the characteristics of clinical trials.
Synthesis in European journal of clinical pharmacology, 2006. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 30 papers, 7 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
30 citing papers in PubMed, 7 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 85 citations in OpenAlex.
- Meta-Analysis of the Placebo Response in Chronic and Episodic Migraine: Insights from Migraine Preventive Drug Trials.The AAPS journal · 2025Pooled it
- Acute and preventive pharmacological treatment of post-traumatic headache: a systematic review.The journal of headache and pain · 2019Pooled it
- A PRISMA-compliant systematic review of the endpoints employed to evaluate symptomatic treatments for primary headaches.The journal of headache and pain · 2018Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Sumatriptan (all routes of administration) for acute migraine attacks in adults - overview of Cochrane reviews.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2014Pooled it
- Placebo effect model in asthma clinical studies: longitudinal meta-analysis of forced expiratory volume in 1 second.European journal of clinical pharmacology · 2012Pooled it
- Self-medication of migraine and tension-type headache: summary of the evidence-based recommendations of the Deutsche Migräne und Kopfschmerzgesellschaft (DMKG), the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Neurologie (DGN), the Österreichische Kopfschmerzgesellschaft (ÖKSG) and the Schweizerische Kopfwehgesellschaft (SKG).The journal of headache and pain · 2011Guideline
- The Power of a Good Word: Enhancing the Efficacy of Analgesics in Clinical Settings.Psychotherapy and psychosomatics · 2025Trial
- Improving Clinical Trial Design in Low Back Pain: Insights from Studies of Gabapentinoids.Pain and therapy · 2026Review
- Matched vs Nonmatched Placebos in a Randomized Trial of COVID-19 Treatments.JAMA network open · 2024Article
- High Dosage Omega-3 Fatty Acids Outperform Existing Pharmacological Options for Migraine Prophylaxis: A Network Meta-Analysis.Advances in nutrition (Bethesda, Md.) · 2024Review
- The roles of expectation, comparator, administration route, and population in open-label placebo effects: a network meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Comparison of indirect treatment methods in migraine prevention to address differences in mode of administration.Journal of comparative effectiveness research · 2023Review
- Open-Label Placebo Treatment for Acute Postoperative Pain (OLP-POP Study): Study Protocol of a Randomized Controlled Trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2021Article
- Does Health Literacy Make a Difference? Comparing the Effect of Conventional Medicine Versus Homeopathic Prescribing on Treatment Credibility and Expectancy.Frontiers in psychology · 2021Article
- Placebo Responses and Placebo Effects in Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2020Review
- Pain, placebo, and test of treatment efficacy: a narrative review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2019Review
- Review of Acute Treatment of Migraine Trial Results With the New FDA Endpoints: Design Implications for Future Trials.Headache · 2019Review
- Recommendations on the Use of Anti-CGRP Monoclonal Antibodies in Children and Adolescents.Headache · 2018Article
- Clinical Presentation and Management of Headache in Pituitary Tumors.Current pain and headache reports · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
- Commented on by
Authors and funding
3 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Migraine is the most common cause of vascular headache and a highly prevalent illness. In the last 20 years, the discovery of new agents has increased clinical research on migraine. In most of clinical trials that have been conducted, the efficacy was established using a placebo as a control treatment. The objective of the study reported here was to analyse the response rate in patients who received a placebo as well as to determine how a number of the methodological factors may affect the effect of the placebo in clinical trials of acute migraine. Computer-based information searches were conducted on the Medline database. Data analysis included the outcomes 'pain relief', 'pain-free', 'associated symptoms', 'recurrence', 'patients' opinion' about pain relief and 'adverse events'. Administration route, study design and country in which the study was carried out were the methodological factors that were analyzed. Meta-analysis was computed using Mantel-Haenszel, and a total of 98 papers were considered in the final analysis. After 2 h, 28.6% of the patients of the placebo group improved and 8.8% were pain-free. The percentage of pain-free patients was the highest in the placebo and active drug groups in which the placebo or drug had been administered subcutaneously, in parallel design studies (vs. cross-over trials) and in studies performed in Europe (vs. North America). Adverse events in the placebo group were significantly higher in studies performed in North America. These data reinforce the need for knowing the magnitude of the placebo response in each specific situation during the planning of clinical trials on acute migraine.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.