Trial reportPsychosomatic medicine2018
Enhancing Placebo Effects in Somatic Symptoms Through Oxytocin.
Trial report in Psychosomatic medicine, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 15 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
15 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Pooled it
- Effects of Oxytocin on Placebo and Nocebo Effects in a Pain Conditioning Paradigm: A Randomized Controlled Trial.The journal of painTrial
- The Role of Oxytocin and Sex in Analgesic Placebo-Response: Exploratory Analysis from a Sham Randomized Clinical Trial in Chronic Back-Pain Patients.Journal of clinical medicine · 2025Article
- Nasal oxytocin administration does not influence eye gaze or perceived relationship of male volunteers with physicians in a simulated online consultation: a randomized, placebo-controlled trial.Endocrine connections · 2023Article
- Placebo and nocebo effects: from observation to harnessing and clinical application.Translational psychiatry · 2022Review
- Can contagious itch be affected by positive and negative suggestions?Experimental dermatology · 2022Article
- Oxytocin and the social facilitation of placebo effects.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Review
- Psycho-Neuro-Endocrine-Immunological Basis of the Placebo Effect: Potential Applications beyond Pain Therapy.International journal of molecular sciences · 2022Review
- Placebo Effects in the Neuroendocrine System: Conditioning of the Oxytocin Responses.Psychosomatic medicine · 2020Article
- 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
- Effects of Open- and Closed-Label Nocebo and Placebo Suggestions on Itch and Itch Expectations.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2019Article
- Does Sex/Gender Play a Role in Placebo and Nocebo Effects? Conflicting Evidence From Clinical Trials and Experimental Studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2019Review
- [Placebo and nocebo effects on itch : Methodological and clinical implications].Der Hautarzt; Zeitschrift fur Dermatologie, Venerologie, und verwandte Gebiete · 2018Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectivePlacebo effects relieve various somatic symptoms, but it is unclear how they can be enhanced to maximize positive treatment outcomes. Oxytocin administration may potentially enhance placebo effects, but few studies have been performed, and they have had conflicting findings. The study aim was to investigate the influence of positive verbal suggestions and oxytocin on treatment expectations and placebo effects for pain and itch.
methodsOne hundred eight female participants were allocated to one of the following four groups: (1) oxytocin with positive verbal suggestions, (2) placebo with positive verbal suggestions, (3) oxytocin without suggestions, and (4) placebo without suggestions. The administration of 24 IU oxytocin or a placebo spray was preceded by positive verbal suggestions regarding the pain- and itch-relieving properties of the spray or no suggestions, depending on group allocation. Pain was assessed with a cold pressor test, and itch was assessed with histamine iontophoresis.
resultsPositive verbal suggestions induced expectations of lower pain (F = 4.77, p = .031) and itch (F = 5.38, p = .022). Moreover, positive verbal suggestions elicited placebo analgesia (F = 5.48, p = .021) but did not decrease itch. No effect of oxytocin on the placebo effect or on expectations was found.
conclusionsPositive suggestions induced placebo analgesia but oxytocin did not enhance the placebo effect. Study limitations are that we only included a female sample and a failure to induce placebo effect for itch. Future studies should focus on how oxytocin might influence placebo effects, taken into account the role of sex, dose-dependent effects, and various expectation manipulations.
trial registrationThe study was registered as a clinical trial on www.trialregister.nl (number 6376).
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.