ReviewJournal of pain research2017
A systematic review of sex differences in the placebo and the nocebo effect.
Review in Journal of pain research, 2017. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 71 papers, 9 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
71 citing papers in PubMed, 9 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 120 citations in OpenAlex.
- Placebo effects of caffeine on sport performance: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition · 2026Pooled it
- Nocebo effects in long-term health conditions: a systematic review of experimental studies.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2026Pooled it
- Meta-Analysis of the Placebo Response in Chronic and Episodic Migraine: Insights from Migraine Preventive Drug Trials.The AAPS journal · 2025Pooled it
- Mitigating the Nocebo Effect in Biosimilar Use and Switching: A Systematic Review.Pharmaceutical medicine · 2024Pooled it
- Learning by observing: a systematic exploration of modulatory factors and the impact of observationally induced placebo and nocebo effects on treatment outcomes.Frontiers in psychology · 2024Pooled it
- Placebo and nocebo effects and mechanisms associated with pharmacological interventions: an umbrella review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- Pooled it
- The Nocebo Effect: A Review of Contemporary Experimental Research.International journal of behavioral medicine · 2022Pooled it
- Placebo-Related Adverse Events in Rheumatoid Arthritis.Biomolecules · 2022Pooled it
- Can Nocebo Effects Be Reduced via Open- and Closed-Label Counterconditioning?European journal of pain (London, England) · 2026Trial
- Trial
- An experimental study on the effect of symptom expectations on mental fatigue and motivation in people with primary biliary cholangitis.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Sex assigned at birth may modify health-related quality of life in children treated with peanut oral immunotherapy.Pediatric allergy and immunology : official publication of the European Society of Pediatric Allergy and Immunology · 2025Trial
- Central correlates of placebo effects in nausea differ between men and women.Brain and behavior · 2022Trial
- Factors Associated With Response to Placebo in Patients With Irritable Bowel Syndrome and Constipation.Clinical gastroenterology and hepatology : the official clinical practice journal of the American Gastroenterological Association · 2018Trial
- Top-down control of the descending pain modulatory system drives multimodal placebo analgesia.Neuron · 2026Article
- Sex Does Matter! The Influence of Sex on Outcomes of Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS).Cells · 2026Review
- Effect of engineered mesoporous silica particles with tailored pore size on glycaemic control in individuals with prediabetes or type 2 diabetes: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled SHINE trial.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- Do sex and gender matter in the pharmacological treatment of depression?Naunyn-Schmiedeberg's archives of pharmacology · 2026Review
- Off-label and investigational drugs in the treatment of gambling disorder: a critical review.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2026Review
11 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivesThe present review investigated whether there are systematic sex differences in the placebo and the nocebo effect.
methodsA literature search was conducted in multiple electronic databases. Studies were included if the study compared a group or condition where a placebo was administered to a natural history group or similar cohort.
resultsEighteen studies were identified - 12 on placebo effects and 6 on nocebo effects. Chi-square tests revealed that 1) males responded more strongly to placebo treatment, and females responded more strongly to nocebo treatment, and 2) males responded with larger placebo effects induced by verbal information, and females responded with larger nocebo effects induced by conditioning procedures.
conclusionThis review indicates that there are sex differences in the placebo and nocebo effects, probably caused by sex differences in stress, anxiety, and the endogenous opioid system.
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.