Trial reportTrials2017
Open-label versus double-blind placebo treatment in irritable bowel syndrome: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Trials, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02802241 (Effects of Open-label vs Double-blind Treatment in IBS.), which is not on this map. Cited by 28 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.
Effects of Open-label vs Double-blind Treatment in IBS.
Who cites it
28 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta analysis of open label placebo effects in chronic musculoskeletal pain.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic qualitative review of ethical issues in open label placebo in published research.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Open-label placebo treatment does not enhance cognitive abilities in healthy volunteers.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- The impact of pharmaceutical form and simulated side effects in an open-label-placebo RCT for improving psychological distress in highly stressed students.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- Are They Side Effects? Extraintestinal Symptoms Reported During Clinical Trials of Irritable Bowel Syndrome May Be More Severe at Baseline.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2022Trial
- Effect of a Short-Term Intervention withInternational journal of environmental research and public health · 2022Trial
- Patients' experiences treated with open-label placebo versus double-blind placebo: a mixed methods qualitative study.BMC psychology · 2022Trial
- Trial
- Effects of treatment with eluxadoline on abdominal pain in patients with IBS-D: Additional post hoc analyses of Phase 3 trials.Neurogastroenterology and motility · 2020Trial
- Psychological Predictors of Response to Open-Label Versus Double-Blind Placebo in a Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Psychosomatic medicineTrial
- Article
- Open label placebo to treat fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis: feasibility and preliminary effects.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Reducing Emotional Distress with Open-Label Placebos: Assessing the Role of Motor Engagement in Pill Consumption.Behavioral sciences (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Working with patients' treatment expectations - what we can learn from homeopathy.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Review
- Dark loops: contagion effects, consistency and chemosocial matrices in psychedelic-assisted therapy trials.Psychological medicine · 2023Review
- Synergistic Effect ofNutrients · 2023Article
- Diminished androgen levels are linked to irritable bowel syndrome and cause bowel dysfunction in mice.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2022Article
- Genotypes of Pain and Analgesia in a Randomized Trial of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2022Article
- Genomic Effects Associated With Response to Placebo Treatment in a Randomized Trial of Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
13 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundPlacebo medications, by definition, are composed of inactive ingredients that have no physiological effect on symptoms. Nonetheless, administration of placebo in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and in clinical settings has been demonstrated to have significant impact on many physical and psychological complaints. Until recently, conventional wisdom has suggested that patients must believe that placebo pills actually contain (or, at least, might possibly contain) active medication in order to elicit a response to placebo. However, several recent RCTs, including patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), chronic low back pain, and episodic migraine, have demonstrated that individuals receiving open-label placebo (OLP) can still experience symptomatic improvement and benefit from honestly described placebo treatment. METHODS AND
designThis paper describes an innovative multidisciplinary trial design (n = 280) that attempts to replicate and expand upon an earlier IBS OLP study. The current study will compare OLP to double-blind placebo (DBP) administration which is made possible by including a nested, double-blind RCT comparing DBP and peppermint oil. The study also examines possible genetic and psychological predictors of OLP and seeks to better understand participants' experiences with OLP and DBP through a series of extensive interviews with a randomly selected subgroup. DISCUSSION: OLP treatment is a novel strategy for ethically harnessing placebo effects. It has potential to re-frame theories of placebo and to influence how physicians can optimize watch-and-wait strategies for common, subjective symptoms. The current study aims to dramatically expand what we know about OLP by comparing, for the first time, OLP and DBP administration. Adopting a unique, multidisciplinary approach, the study also explores genetic, psychological and experiential dimensions of OLP. The paper ends with an extensive discussion of the "culture" of the trial as well as potential mechanisms of OLP and ethical implications.
trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov, identifier: NCT02802241 . Registered on 14 June 2016.
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.