SynthesisJournal of clinical epidemiology2021
Most randomized controlled trials for psoriasis used placebo comparators despite the availability of effective treatments.
Synthesis in Journal of clinical epidemiology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
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
3 citing papers in PubMed, 8 citations in OpenAlex.
- Mild psoriasis as a suitable model for proof-of-mechanism in a phase 1B setting: Results from a double-blind placebo-controlled trial with guselkumab.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2025Trial
- A tale of two meta-analyses: Similarity, consistency and avoiding overinterpretation in network meta-analysis.Journal of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology : JEADV · 2026Article
- Flying Blind: How Thorough are IRBs when Assessing Scientific Value?Journal of general internal medicine · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundThe availability of effective treatments for psoriasis raises ethical questions about the use of a placebo group in therapeutic trials. We evaluated the use of the placebo over time in such trials.
methodsFrom trials in a living Cochrane review and network meta-analysis for psoriasis, we included trials comparing a biologic to a placebo or other systemic treatment. First, we tested the changes in placebo rate from 2001 to 2019 by linear regression, then constructed networks for 2004-2019 and evaluated the contribution of the placebo to the network meta-analysis estimates per trial and per comparison.
resultsWe included 81 trials (36,774 patients). The placebo rate did not decrease significantly over time. The proportion contribution of trials with a placebo decreased from 100% in 2004 to 86% in 2008 and 75% in 2019. However, the proportion contribution of trials without a placebo remained low (from 0% in 2004 to 25% in 2019).
conclusionThe design of future psoriasis trials should be reviewed to improve the number of patients to be included in a placebo group.
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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.