Trial reportPloS one2015
Inducing Expectations for Health: Effects of Verbal Suggestion and Imagery on Pain, Itch, and Fatigue as Indicators of Physical Sensitivity.
Trial report in PloS one, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 14 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
14 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 34 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Placebo Analgesia, Nocebo Hyperalgesia, and the Cardiovascular System: A Qualitative Systematic Review.Frontiers in physiology · 2020Pooled it
- Enhancing Placebo Effects in Somatic Symptoms Through Oxytocin.Psychosomatic medicine · 2018Trial
- Placebo-like analgesia via response imagery.European journal of pain (London, England) · 2017Trial
- Commentary: A systematic review of the effectiveness of psychological interventions in organ transplantation.Frontiers in psychology · 2026Article
- The Past, Present, and Future Care for Refractory Chronic Cough in Children and Adults.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Induction and generalization of nocebo effects on itch.Experimental dermatology · 2022Article
- Exploring pain experience and anxiety sensitivity among Latinx adults in a federally qualified health center.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Article
- Verbal Suggestion Modulates the Sense of Ownership and Heat Pain Threshold During the "Injured" Rubber Hand Illusion.Frontiers in human neuroscience · 2022Article
- What is new in the psychology of chronic itch?Experimental dermatology · 2019Article
- Article
- Placebo and Nocebo Effects Across Symptoms: From Pain to Fatigue, Dyspnea, Nausea, and Itch.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Review
- [Placebo and nocebo effects on itch : Methodological and clinical implications].Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete · 2018Review
- An Integrative Review of the Influence of Expectancies on Pain.Frontiers in psychology · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
unlabelledResearch into placebo effects has convincingly shown that inducing positive outcome expectations can reduce pain and other physical sensations. However, the comparative effects of different expectation inductions, such as verbal suggestion or mental imagery, and their generic effects on physical sensitivity, to different sensations such as pain, itch, and fatigue, are still largely unknown. In the current study, we assessed the individual and combined effects of verbal suggestion and imagery on pain, itch, and fatigue as indicators of physical sensitivity in a randomized study design. Healthy participants (n = 116) were given an inert (placebo) capsule that was said to be effective for reducing physical sensitivity in either the majority (positive verbal suggestion) or the minority (control verbal suggestion) of users. Subsequently, they imagined either their best possible health (positive imagery) or a typical day (control imagery). Sensitivity to pain, itch, and fatigue was tested using a cold pressor test, histamine iontophoresis, and a bicycle test, respectively. Heart rate and skin conductance were recorded continuously. Results showed that positive verbal suggestion and imagery successfully induced positive expectations, but they did not affect physical sensitivity, as indicated by sensitivity to pain, itch, or fatigue, or concurrent physiological responses. These results could indicate that the specificity and concreteness of expectation inductions might be important for their applicability in the treatment of physical symptoms.
trial registrationNederlands Trial Register NTR3641.
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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.