SynthesisClinical drug investigation2018
Meta-analysis of Placebo Response in Randomized Clinical Trials of Antipsychotic Drugs Using PANSS Focusing on Different Approaches to the Handling of Missing Data.
Synthesis in Clinical drug investigation, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Cited by 4 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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Analyzing the Placebo Response and Identifying Influential Factors in Oral Medication Trials for Acute-Phase Schizophrenia.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2026Pooled it
- Placebo effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation on negative symptoms and cognition in patients with schizophrenia spectrum disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Pooled it
- Meta-analysis of Dropout Rates in Placebo-Controlled Randomized Clinical Trials of Atypical Antipsychotics Assessed by PANSS.Clinical drug investigation · 2019Pooled it
- Placebo response on the weight change and its influencing factors in overweight or obesity with or without diabetes: a meta-analysis of 182 anti-obesity medications trials.Communications medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
- Erratum issued
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
BACKGROUND AND
objectiveSchizophrenia treatment has been shifting to resocialization by efficacious antipsychotic drugs. However, even some of the pivotal studies of approved new antipsychotic drugs with proven efficacy had failed due to high placebo response. The aim of this study was to identify the potential factors affecting placebo response by meta-analysis for randomized clinical trials for antipsychotic drugs using Positive and Negative Syndrome Scale (PANSS) focusing on the current methodological change in the handling of missing data [from last observation carried forward (LOCF) to mixed-effect models for repeated measures (MMRM)] for successful future clinical trials.
methodsRecent trends in the degree of placebo response were investigated between publication year (1993 to 2016) and the mean change of PANSS total score in the placebo arm. The potential factors affecting the degree of placebo response, such as study design and operational factors, were analyzed separately by meta-regression for LOCF- and MMRM-based data.
resultsThere was no correlation between publication year and the mean change of PANSS score in the placebo arm in schizophrenia studies of 10 years applying MMRM. The number of countries and treatment setting in MMRM-based data and study duration in LOCF-based data were significantly associated with placebo response.
conclusionPlacebo response in schizophrenia clinical trials published between 2007 and 2016 has not increased over time. Differences in the healthcare environment among countries were suggested to affect the evaluation of antipsychotic drugs. Further analyses on the potential factors of placebo response for MMRM-based data are required.
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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.