Evidence map›Paper›PMID 29895014›Full record

ArticlePsychotherapy and psychosomatics2018

Implications of Placebo and Nocebo Effects for Clinical Practice: Expert Consensus.

Andrea W M Evers, Luana Colloca, Charlotte Blease, Marco Annoni, Lauren Y Atlas, Fabrizio Benedetti, Ulrike Bingel, Christian Büchel, Claudia Carvalho, Ben Colagiuri and 20 more

Open access · hybridAbstract readConsensus Statement
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psychotherapy and psychosomatics, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 227 papers, 27 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
227citing papers in PubMed, 27 pooled it
26.7field-weighted citation impact, top 1% of its field
1 · What the graph read from 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.

2 · The registry

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.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

227 citing papers in PubMed, 27 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 550 citations in OpenAlex.

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  5. Opioid conversion in adults with cancer: MASCC-ASCO-AAHPM-HPNA-NICSO guideline.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
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  11. Stress reduction through taiji: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC complementary medicine and therapies · 2024
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167 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

30 authors at 20 institutions in 12 countries.

Andrea W M EversHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Luana CollocaDepartments of Pain Translational Symptoms Science and Anaesthesiology, School of Nursing and Medicine, University of Maryland Baltimore, Baltimore, Maryland, USA.
Charlotte BleaseGeneral Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Marco AnnoniInstitute of Biomedical Technologies, National Research Council, Rome, Italy.
Lauren Y AtlasSection on Affective Neuroscience and Pain, NIH, Bethesda, Massachusetts, USA.
Fabrizio BenedettiPhysiology and Neuroscience, University of Turin Medical School, Turin, Italy.
Ulrike BingelDepartment of Neurology, University Hospital Essen, Essen, Germany.
Christian BüchelDepartment of Systems Neuroscience, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
Claudia CarvalhoDepartment of Clinical and Health Psychology, Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Lisbon, Portugal.
Ben ColagiuriSchool of Psychology, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
Alia J CrumDepartment of Psychology, Stanford University, Stanford, California, USA.
Paul EnckDepartment of Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Tübingen, Tübingen, Germany.
Jens GaabFaculty of Psychology, University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
Andrew L GeersDepartment of Psychology, University of Toledo, Toledo, Ohio, USA.
Jeremy HowickNuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Karin B JensenDepartment of Clinical Neuroscience, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Irving KirschBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Program in Placebo Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Karin MeissnerDivision of Health Promotion, University of Applied Sciences, Coburg, Germany.
Vitaly NapadowAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging, Charlestown, Massachusetts, USA.
Kaya J PeerdemanHealth, Medical and Neuropsychology Unit, Institute of Psychology, Leiden University, Leiden, the Netherlands.
Amir RazDepartments of Psychiatry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, Québec, Canada.
Winfried RiefDepartment of Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, Philipps University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany.
Lene VaseDepartment of Psychology and Behavioural Sciences, Aarhus University, Aarhus, Denmark.
Tor D WagerDepartment of Psychology and Neuroscience, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, USA.
Bruce E WampoldDepartment of Counseling Psychology, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Katja WeimerClinic for Psychosomatic Medicine and Psychotherapy, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany.
Katja WiechNuffield Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Ted J KaptchukBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Program in Placebo Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Regine KlingerCenter for Anesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
John M KelleyBeth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Program in Placebo Studies, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center · USLeiden University · NLUniversität Hamburg · DEUniversity of Oxford · GBAarhus University · DKAthinoula A. Martinos Center for Biomedical Imaging · USCenter for Pain and the Brain · USCoburg University of Applied Sciences · DEEssen University Hospital · DEInstitute of Biomedical Technologies · ITISPA - Instituto Universitário · PTKarolinska Institutet · SEMcGill University · CAPhilipps University of Marburg · DEStanford University · USThe University of Sydney · AUUniversity Hospital Ulm · DEUniversity of Basel · CHUniversity of Colorado Boulder · USUniversity of Maryland, Baltimore · US

Funding

Neural and psychological mechanisms of pain perception ZIAAT000030 · NCCIH · NATIONAL CENTER FOR COMPLEMENTARY & INTEGRATIVE HEALTH · PI ATLAS, LAUREN · 2015 to 2025
$3.8M
Medical Research Council G0800055
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundPlacebo and nocebo effects occur in clinical or laboratory medical contexts after administration of an inert treatment or as part of active treatments and are due to psychobiological mechanisms such as expectancies of the patient. Placebo and nocebo studies have evolved from predominantly methodological research into a far-reaching interdisciplinary field that is unravelling the neurobiological, behavioural and clinical underpinnings of these phenomena in a broad variety of medical conditions. As a consequence, there is an increasing demand from health professionals to develop expert recommendations about evidence-based and ethical use of placebo and nocebo effects for clinical practice.

methodsA survey and interdisciplinary expert meeting by invitation was organized as part of the 1st Society for Interdisciplinary Placebo Studies (SIPS) conference in 2017. Twenty-nine internationally recognized placebo researchers participated.

resultsThere was consensus that maximizing placebo effects and minimizing nocebo effects should lead to better treatment outcomes with fewer side effects. Experts particularly agreed on the importance of informing patients about placebo and nocebo effects and training health professionals in patient-clinician communication to maximize placebo and minimize nocebo effects.

conclusionsThe current paper forms a first step towards developing evidence-based and ethical recommendations about the implications of placebo and nocebo research for medical practice, based on the current state of evidence and the consensus of experts. Future research might focus on how to implement these recommendations, including how to optimize conditions for educating patients about placebo and nocebo effects and providing training for the implementation in clinical practice.

Indexed as

ConsensusEvidence-Based PracticeNocebo EffectPlacebo EffectDrug-Related Side Effects and Adverse ReactionsHumansPhysician-Patient RelationsClinical practiceEvidence-based ethical recommendationsNocebo effectPatient-clinician communicationPatient’s expectanciesPlacebo effect

Identifiers

PMID29895014
PMCPMC6191882
OpenAlexW2807782653

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

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.