ArticleJournal of pain research2018
Placebo response in neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: a meta-analysis of individual participant data.
Article in Journal of pain research, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 9 citations in OpenAlex.
- Factors Influencing Placebo Responses in Rheumatoid Arthritis Clinical Trials: A Meta-Analysis of Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Studies.Clinical drug investigation · 2020Pooled it
- The short-term effects of head-mounted virtual-reality on neuropathic pain intensity in people with spinal cord injury pain: a randomised cross-over pilot study.Spinal cord · 2021Trial
- Prophylactic triple neurectomy during open tension-free inguinal hernia repair: a clinical trial for the prevention of chronic postoperative pain.Updates in surgery · 2026Article
- The efficacy, safety, and satisfaction of telehealth-delivered hypnotic cognitive therapy for chronic pain in spinal cord injury: A pilot study with historical controls.The journal of spinal cord medicine · 2025Article
- Immediate effect of alone and combined virtual reality, gait-like muscle vibration and transcranial direct current stimulation on neuropathic pain after spinal cord injury: a pilot study.Spinal cord series and cases · 2024Article
- The neglect of sex: A call to action for including sex as a biological variable in placebo and nocebo research.Contemporary clinical trials · 2022Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
9 authors at 6 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundUnderstanding factors associated with high placebo responses in clinical trials increases the likelihood of detecting a meaningful treatment effect. The aim of the present study was to identify subject-level factors that contribute to placebo variability in patients with neuropathic pain due to spinal cord injury (SCI).
methodsMultiple regression analysis of patient data from randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trials (duration >4 weeks) involving individuals with SCI was performed. Patient demographics, as well as injury and pain characteristics were examined for their association with changes in pain rating from baseline to the end of the trial (i.e., placebo response). The overall effect of individual predictors was quantified with meta-analysis statistics.
resultsA total of 276 patients with SCI from six studies were included in the analysis. Based on the meta-analysis of subject-level predictors, larger placebo responses were associated with male subjects (β=0.635; standard error [SE]=0.262;
conclusionThe current meta-analysis of individual patient data demonstrated the importance of sex and baseline pain intensity on changes in pain ratings in the placebo arm of SCI central neuropathic pain randomized controlled clinical trials. Overall, our findings indicate that placebo responses occur independent of injury characteristics.
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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.