ArticleBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2015
Bloodcurdling movies and measures of coagulation: Fear Factor crossover trial.
Article in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02601053 (The Fear F8ctor Study - Does Fear Induce a Blood Curdling State? The Origin Behind the Phrase Unravelled), which is not on this map. Cited by 1 paper.
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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.
The Fear F8ctor Study - Does Fear Induce a Blood Curdling State? The Origin Behind the Phrase Unravelled
Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Lower-leg injury and knee arthroscopy have distinct effects on coagulation.Blood advances · 2022Article
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4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo assess whether, as has been hypothesised since medieval times, acute fear can curdle blood.
designCrossover trial.
settingMain meeting room of Leiden University's Department of Clinical Epidemiology, the Netherlands, converted to a makeshift cinema.
participants24 healthy volunteers aged ≤30 years recruited among students, alumni, and employees of the Leiden University Medical Center: 14 were assigned to watch a frightening (horror) movie followed by a non-threatening (educational) movie and 10 to watch the movies in reverse order. The movies were viewed more than a week apart at the same time of day and both lasted approximately 90 minutes.
main outcome measuresThe primary outcome measures were markers, or "fear factors" of coagulation activity: blood coagulant factor VIII, D-dimer, thrombin-antithrombin complexes, and prothrombin fragments 1+2. The secondary outcome was participant reported fear experienced during each movie using a visual analogue fear scale.
resultsAll participants completed the study. The horror movie was perceived to be more frightening than the educational movie on a visual analogue fear scale (mean difference 5.4, 95% confidence interval 4.7 to 6.1). The difference in factor VIII levels before and after watching the movies was higher for the horror movie than for the educational movie (mean difference of differences 11.1 IU/dL (111 IU/L), 95% confidence interval 1.2 to 21.0 IU/dL). The effect of either movie on levels of thrombin-antithrombin complexes, D-dimer, and prothrombin fragments 1+2 did not differ.
conclusionFrightening (in this case, horror) movies are associated with an increase of blood coagulant factor VIII without actual thrombin formation in young and healthy adults. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02601053.
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