ReviewPsychology research and behavior management2015
How can placebo effects best be applied in clinical practice? A narrative review.
Review in Psychology research and behavior management, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 21 papers, 3 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
21 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- The temporal trend of placebo response in migraine prevention from 1990 to 2021: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis with regression.The journal of headache and pain · 2023Pooled it
- Placebo Responses and Their Clinical Implications in Fibromyalgia: A Meta-Analysis Using SSRI and SNRI Trials.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2021Pooled it
- The effectiveness of parent training for children with autism spectrum disorder: a systematic review and meta-analyses.BMC psychiatry · 2020Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of Obex® in overweight and obese subjects: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2023Trial
- Open-Label Placebo for the Treatment of Cancer-Related Fatigue in Patients with Advanced Cancer: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The oncologist · 2022Trial
- Measuring the placebo effect in carpal tunnel syndrome.Journal of orthopaedics and traumatology : official journal of the Italian Society of Orthopaedics and Traumatology · 2020Trial
- Patients' Experiences with an Interdisciplinary Team Assessment of Chronic Pain: A Qualitative Interview Study.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Placebos in Healthcare: A Behavioral Study on How Treatment Responsiveness Affects Therapy Decisions in a Simulated Patient-Physician Interaction.Clinics and practice · 2024Article
- Putting Methylphenidate for Cancer-Related Fatigue to Rest?Journal of clinical oncology : official journal of the American Society of Clinical Oncology · 2024Article
- Attachment and School Completion: Understanding Young People Who Have Dropped Out of High School and Important Factors in Their Re-Enrollment.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Review
- Hypnosis in a specialist palliative care setting - enhancing personalized care for difficult symptoms and situations.Palliative care and social practice · 2020Review
- What Is the Role of the Placebo Effect for Pain Relief in Neurorehabilitation? Clinical Implications From the Italian Consensus Conference on Pain in Neurorehabilitation.Frontiers in neurology · 2018Review
- Does the model of additive effect in placebo research still hold true? A narrative review.JRSM open · 2017Article
- Provoked vestibulodynia: current perspectives.International journal of women's health · 2017Review
- [Placebo response - Mechanisms and clinical applications].Schmerz (Berlin, Germany) · 2016Review
- Placebo Use in Pain Management: A Mechanism-Based Educational Intervention Enhances Placebo Treatment Acceptability.The journal of pain · 2016Article
- Nausea in pregnancy: attitudes among pregnant women and general practitioners on treatment and pregnancy care.Scandinavian journal of primary health care · 2016Article
- Beyond expectation: a case for nonpersonal contextual factors in a more comprehensive approach to the placebo effect and the contribution of environmental psychology.Psychology research and behavior management · 2015Article
- Unraveling the mystery of placebo effect in research and practice: An update.Perspectives in clinical researchReview
- Clinician-Patient Movement Synchrony Mediates Social Group Effects on Interpersonal Trust and Perceived Pain.The journal of painArticle
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.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Placebo effects are documented in a number of clinical and experimental studies. It is possible to benefit from placebo effects in clinical practice by using them as effects additive to those of documented and effective treatments. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how doctors and other health workers may benefit from placebo effects within an ethical framework. A narrative review of the literature relating to placebo effects in clinical practice was performed. We searched PubMed and selected textbooks on placebo effects for articles and book chapters relating to placebo effects in clinical practice. By drawing on placebo effects, doctors may access patients' self-healing potentials. In practice, doctors may best benefit from placebo effects by influencing the patient's expectations through communication. An important principle is to give the patient information stating that a particular treatment is effective, as long as this is based on realistic optimism. A patient-centered style involving elements such as developing trust and respect, exploring the patient's values, speaking positively about treatments, and providing reassurance and encouragement might aid in activating placebo effects. The total effect of a documented treatment will partly depend on how well the placebo effects have been activated. Thus, placebo effects can be understood as a form of supplemental treatment.
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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.