ReviewInternational review of neurobiology2018
Placebos Without Deception: Outcomes, Mechanisms, and Ethics.
Review in International review of neurobiology, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03934138 (Does the Subject's Understanding of Underlying Placebo Mechanisms Compensate for the Loss of Efficacy Associated With the Disclosure of the Use of a Placebo), which is not on this map. Cited by 50 papers, 6 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.
Does the Subject's Understanding of Underlying Placebo Mechanisms Compensate for the Loss of Efficacy Associated With the Disclosure of the Use of a Placebo
Who cites it
50 citing papers in PubMed, 6 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- A systematic qualitative review of ethical issues in open label placebo in published research.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Social pain: A systematic review on interventions.F1000Research · 2025Pooled it
- Placebo and nocebo effects and mechanisms associated with pharmacological interventions: an umbrella review.BMJ open · 2023Pooled it
- An assessment of the reporting of tapering methods in antidepressant discontinuation trials using the TIDieR checklist.International journal of clinical pharmacy · 2023Pooled it
- Placebo and nocebo responses in randomised, controlled trials of medications for ADHD: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Dispositional optimism and open-label placebo responses in hair cortisol concentrations and psychological distress-A randomized controlled trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Trial
- Open-label placebos reduce hair cortisol concentrations and psychological distress - a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- A simple alternative to nondeceptive placebos for reducing emotional distress: encouragement.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2025Trial
- Independent effects of transcranial direct current stimulation and social influence on pain.Pain · 2025Trial
- The pill you don't have to take that is still effective: neural correlates of imaginary placebo intake for regulating disgust.Social cognitive and affective neuroscience · 2024Trial
- Effects of an open-label placebo intervention on reactions to social exclusion in healthy adults: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2023Trial
- A randomized trial that compared brain activity, efficacy and plausibility of open-label placebo treatment and cognitive repappraisal for reducing emotional distress.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
- Placebo effects on the quantity and quality of relaxation training.Journal of health psychology · 2022Trial
- Open-label placebo treatment to improve relaxation training effects in healthy psychology students: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2021Trial
- Open-label placebos for menopausal hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2020Trial
- Placebos without deception reduce self-report and neural measures of emotional distress.Nature communications · 2020Trial
- Open-label placebos reduce test anxiety and improve self-management skills: A randomized-controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2019Trial
- Effects of prefrontal transcranial direct current stimulation on open-label placebo responses.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
Scientific research indicates that open-label and dose-extending placebos (that patients know are placebos) can elicit behavioral, biological, and clinical outcome changes. In this chapter, we present the state-of-the-art evidence and ethical considerations about open-label and dose-extending placebos, discussing the perspective of giving placebos with a rational, as dose extension of active drugs, or expectancy boosters. Previous comprehensive reviews of placebo use have considered how to harness placebo effects in medicine and the need to focus on elements of the clinical encounter as well as patient-clinician relations. Here, we illustrate the similarities and differences between standard (deceptive) placebos, open-label placebos and dose-extending placebos. We conclude that placebos without deception would override ethical barriers to their clinical use. This paves the way to future large-scale, pragmatic randomized trials that investigate the potential of ethical open-label and dose-extending placebos to improve patients' outcomes, and reduce side effects.
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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.