Trial reportPatient education and counseling2012
Exploring communication pathways to better health: clinician communication of expectations for acupuncture effectiveness.
Trial report in Patient education and counseling, 2012. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers.
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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 49 citations in OpenAlex.
- Link Between Positive Clinician-Conveyed Expectations of Treatment Effect and Pain Reduction in Knee Osteoarthritis, Mediated by Patient Self-Efficacy.Arthritis care & research · 2016Trial
- Integrating acupuncture with exercise-based physical therapy for knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial.Journal of clinical rheumatology : practical reports on rheumatic & musculoskeletal diseases · 2013Trial
- The impact of acupuncturists' experience level on the efficacy of acupuncture for functional dyspepsia: an exploratory secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Article
- Considerations for Issues of Regression to the Mean and Contextual Effects in Clinical Trials for Pain in Rheumatic Diseases.Arthritis care & research · 2026Review
- IDEAL-Acu: A Methodological Framework for Evaluating the Effects of Acupuncture.Journal of evidence-based medicine · 2025Article
- Barriers and Facilitators to Integrating Acupuncture into the U.S. Health Care System: A Scoping Review.Journal of integrative and complementary medicine · 2024Article
- Engaging an Asian Immigrant Older Adult in Depression Care: Collaborative Care, Patient-Provider Communication and Ethnic Identity.The American journal of geriatric psychiatry : official journal of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry · 2021Article
- "Miracle" or "Medicine": A Turning-Point Analysis of Patients' and Physicians' Shifting Views on Acupuncture.Medical acupuncture · 2020Article
- Acupuncture Treatment Modulates the Connectivity of Key Regions of the Descending Pain Modulation and Reward Systems in Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain.Journal of clinical medicine · 2020Article
- Patient-Clinician Communication About Pain: A Conceptual Model and Narrative Review.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2018Review
- Clinical relevance of contextual factors as triggers of placebo and nocebo effects in musculoskeletal pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Review
- Assessing Patient-Centered Communication in Cancer Care: Measures for Surveillance of Communication Outcomes.Journal of oncology practice · 2016Article
- Exploring residents' communication learning process in the workplace: a five-phase model.PloS one · 2015Article
- Integrative oncology: really the best of both worlds?Nature reviews. Cancer · 2014Article
- Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
objectiveThis study tested a pathway whereby acupuncturists' communication of optimism for treatment effectiveness would enhance patients' satisfaction during treatment, which in turn would contribute to better pain and function outcomes for patients with osteoarthritis of the knee.
methodsSecondary analysis from a 2 arm (real vs. sham acupuncture, high vs. neutral expectations) RCT. 311 patients with knee osteoarthritis received acupuncture over 10-12 sessions. Coders rated the degree to which acupuncturists communicated optimism for the treatment's effectiveness. Satisfaction with acupuncture was assessed 4 weeks into treatment. Pain and function were assessed 6 weeks following treatment.
resultsPatients experiencing better outcomes were more satisfied with acupuncture during treatment, were younger, and had better baseline pain and function scores. Satisfaction during treatment was greater when patients interacted with more optimistic clinicians and had higher pretreatment expectations for acupuncture efficacy.
conclusionAcupuncturists' communication of optimism about treatment effectiveness contributed to pain and function outcomes indirectly through its effect on satisfaction during treatment. Future research should model pathways through which clinician-patient communication affects mediating variables that in turn lead to improved health outcomes. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: While clinicians should not mislead patients, communicating hope and optimism for treatment effectiveness has therapeutic value for patients.
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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.