ArticlePain reports
Shaping placebo analgesic responses on the Internet: a randomized experimental trial.
Article in Pain reports. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Report of similar placebo response in one internet versus onsite randomised controlled trials from the literature.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2024Article
- Putting the 'Art' Into the 'Art of Medicine': The Under-Explored Role of Artifacts in Placebo Studies.Frontiers in psychology · 2020Review
- How do placebo effects and patient-clinician relationships influence behaviors and clinical outcomes?Pain reportsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe field of Internet-based treatments is expanding. However, little is known about placebo effects in online therapeutic settings. The aim of this study was to test if placebo analgesia could be induced via online communication. Exploratory analyses tested if different communication styles (empathetic/neutral) would influence the placebo effect.
methodsIn this double-blind experiment, 30 healthy participants were randomized to either empathetic or neutral online communication. After completing the online modules, a face-to-face placebo analgesia experiment was performed. An independent experimenter (blinded as to communication type) performed the pain testing and treatment with a sham analgesic device (placebo).
resultsOverall, there was a significant placebo effect, as participants rated the pain lower when the sham analgesic device was turned on, compared to off. An additional control experiment (n = 17) confirmed that pain testing with the sham analgesic device per se, without any prior communication, was not enough to induce placebo effects. Exploratory analyses indicated a significant difference in perception of the online communication between participants randomized to the empathetic and neutral groups because the empathetic group rated the interaction as more positive. Also, there was a significant difference in online compliance. Yet, exploratory analyses did not suggest any difference in placebo pain ratings between the empathetic and neutral communication groups.
conclusionThe results in this study suggest that placebo effects can be created even when information about an analgesic treatment is delivered online. This is the first indication of a novel research line that investigates placebo effects in online treatment.
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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.