ArticleFrontiers in psychiatry2022
Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis - A Randomized Controlled Trial.
Article in Frontiers in psychiatry, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 13 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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
13 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 16 citations in OpenAlex.
- A systematic review and meta analysis of open label placebo effects in chronic musculoskeletal pain.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Dispositional optimism and open-label placebo responses in hair cortisol concentrations and psychological distress-A randomized controlled trial.Applied psychology. Health and well-being · 2026Trial
- Open-label placebos reduce hair cortisol concentrations and psychological distress - a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2026Trial
- Effectiveness of Conditioned Open-label Placebo With Methadone in Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Open-label placebo effects on psychological distress and hair cortisol in a randomized controlled trial - the moderating role of the five-factor personality traits.Comprehensive psychoneuroendocrinology · 2026Article
- Placebo Effects in Modern Medicine: Mechanisms, Clinical Evidence, Limitations, and Future Directions.Cureus · 2026Review
- Placebo response to intra-articular injections in knee osteoarthritis: magnitude, evolution over time, and influencing factors. A systematic review and meta-analysis with meta-regression.EFORT open reviews · 2025Article
- Do Pain and Autonomic Regulation Share a Common Central Compensatory Pathway? A Meta-Analysis of HRV Metrics in Pain Trials.NeuroSci · 2025Review
- Article
- Boosting open-label placebo effects in acute induced pain in healthy adults (BOLPAP-study): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Placebo effects in osteoarthritis: implications for treatment and drug development.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
- Placebo, nocebo: Believing in the field of medicine.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Placebo mechanisms in aging: A randomized controlled trial comparing deceptive and open-label placebos on psychological, cognitive, and physical functioning in older adults.International journal of clinical and health psychology : IJCHPArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
7 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: Recent studies indicate that the administration of open-label placebos (OLP) can improve symptoms in various medical conditions. The primary aim of this 3-week randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of OLP treatments on pain, functional disability, and mobility in patients with arthritic knee pain. Methods: Sixty patients (55% females; mean age, 66.9 ± 9.7 SD years) were randomized to one of two OLP treatments ( Results: Evaluation of daily pain ratings indicated significant pain decrease in the OLP groups compared to NT ( Conclusion: OLP treatment improved knee pain in elderly patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA), while functional disability and mobility of the knee did not change. The content of the verbal suggestion was of minor importance. OLP administration may be considered as supportive analgesic treatment in elderly patients with symptomatic knee OA. Trial Registration: German Clinical Trials Register (https://www.drks.de/), DRKS00015191 (retrospectively registered).
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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.