ArticlePloS one2014
Attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the United Kingdom.
Article in PloS one, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers, 2 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
16 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- What is the evidence for efficacy, effectiveness and safety of surgical interventions for plantar fasciopathy? A systematic review.PloS one · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- How do US orthopaedic surgeons view placebo-controlled surgical trials? A pilot online survey study.Journal of medical ethics · 2024Article
- Using contextual factors to elicit placebo and nocebo effects: An online survey of healthcare providers' practice.PloS one · 2023Observational
- Association of psychological factors with limb disability in patients with cervical radiculopathy: comparison with carpal tunnel syndrome.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2022Article
- Article
- Factors Underlying Patient and Surgeon Willingness to Participate in a Placebo Surgery Controlled trial: A Qualitative Investigation.Annals of surgery open : perspectives of surgical history, education, and clinical approaches · 2021Article
- Surgeons' behaviors and beliefs regarding placebo effects in surgery.Acta orthopaedica · 2021Article
- Integrating Placebo Effects in General Practice: A Cross-Sectional Survey to Investigate Perspectives From Health Care Professionals in the Netherlands.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2021Article
- Article
- Observational
- Pain, placebo, and test of treatment efficacy: a narrative review.British journal of anaesthesia · 2019Review
- Clinical relevance of contextual factors as triggers of placebo and nocebo effects in musculoskeletal pain.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2018Review
- Physical therapists' perspectives on using contextual factors in clinical practice: Findings from an Italian national survey.PloS one · 2018Article
- Randomised placebo-controlled trials of surgery: ethical analysis and guidelines.Journal of medical ethics · 2016Article
- A survey on beliefs and attitudes of trainee surgeons towards placebo.BMC surgery · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesTo survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery.
methodsBritish orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use.
results100 surgeons who participated in the survey believed that placebo surgery is ethically acceptable (96%), especially as a part of a clinical trial (46%). Respondents thought that a placebo effect in surgery is real i.e. has a scientific basis (92%), that placebo can be therapeutically beneficial (77%), and that it involves psychological mechanisms (96%). Over half of the respondents (58%) have used a surgical procedure with a significant placebo component at least once in their professional career. Their main concern about placebo use in surgery was that it might involve an element of deception. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Surgeons generally agreed that a placebo component to surgical intervention might exist. They also supported placebo use in clinical trials and considered it ethical, providing it does not involve deception of patients. More studies are needed, particularly among other surgical specialties and with larger numbers of participants, to better understand the use of placebo in surgery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
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.