ArticleEClinicalMedicine2022
The placebo response rate and nocebo events in obesity pharmacological trials. A systematic review and meta-analysis.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Placebo rates in randomized clinical trials of ulcerative colitis: an individual patient data meta-analysis.Journal of Crohn's & colitis · 2025Pooled it
- Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist in myocardial infarction and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease risk reduction: a comprehensive meta-analysis of number needed to treat, efficacy and safety.Cardiovascular diabetology · 2025Pooled it
- Sex differences in survival following acute coronary syndrome with and without standard modifiable risk factors.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2025Pooled it
- Placebo Rates in Crohn's Disease Randomized Clinical Trials: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis.Gastroenterology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and safety of tirzepatide for treatment of overweight or obesity. A systematic review and meta-analysis.International journal of obesity (2005) · 2023 · on this mapPooled it
- Body composition phenotypes are key predictors of cardiovascular-kidney-metabolic multimorbidity and long-term mortality: insights from a population-based cohort study.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- The global cardiovascular-kidney-liver-metabolic burden from 1990 to 2023.EClinicalMedicine · 2026Article
- The impact and evolution of environmental/occupational, behavioural, and metabolic risk factors on CVD burdens in the Asia-Pacific region from 1990 to 2023: a secondary analysis of the Global Burden of Disease Study 2023.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2026Article
- 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
- Myocardial Infarction Without Standard Modifiable Risk Factors From 2025-2040: Forecast Analysis of Multinational, Population-Based Study.JACC. Asia · 2026Article
- Anti-Obesity Effects of Pear Extract (International journal of stem cells · 2026Article
- Long-term prognosis of coexistent metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease and chronic kidney disease following acute myocardial infarction.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2026Article
- Population estimates, trends, characteristics and prognostic outcomes of cardiovascular-kidney-liver-metabolic health: A population-based study.American journal of preventive cardiology · 2026Article
- Real-World Use of GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Liraglutide in Adolescents with Obesity: A First Longitudinal Single-Center Analysis from Switzerland.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Natural history and outcomes of medically treated coronary artery disease: insights from reconstructed individual patient data of 29 randomized trials.Clinical research in cardiology : official journal of the German Cardiac Society · 2025Article
- Population-Based Study on the Coexistence of Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatotic Liver Disease and Chronic Kidney Disease.Journal of the American Heart Association · 2025Article
- Weight change patterns following surgery for cervical spondylosis in overweight and obese individuals: a nationwide longitudinal study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Non-invasive scoring systems of liver fibrosis predict prognosis in the cohort with myocardial infarction.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Management of obesity with semaglutide or metformin in patients with antipsychotic-induced weight gain (MOSA): a non-randomised open-label pilot study.BMC psychiatry · 2024Article
- Challenges and proposed solutions to conducting Alzheimer's disease psychosis trials.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
22 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background: There is a growing number of trials examining the effectiveness of pharmacotherapies for obesity, however, little is known about placebo and nocebo effect in these trials. Hence, we sought to examine the effect of placebo in obesity trials, to better understand the potential factors affecting clinical endpoints in them. Methods: Medline, Embase, and Cochrane CENTRAL were searched for articles examining weight-loss RCTs examining patients with overweight or obesity in placebo-controlled arms from inception till 25 June 2022. This paper was registered online with PROSPERO (CRD42022302482). A single arm meta-analysis of proportions was used to estimate the primary outcomes, ≥5%, ≥10%, and ≥15% total weight loss - and the adverse effects that patients experienced during the trial. A meta-analysis of means was used to estimate the pooled mean differences of the secondary outcomes including, body weight measurements, lipid levels, glycemic indices, and blood pressure over time. Findings: A total of 63 papers involving 20,454 patients and 69 trials were included. The proportion of patients that had ≥5%, ≥10%, and ≥15% weight loss was 20·4% (CI:16·1% to 25·0%), 8·3% (CI:6·1% to 10·9%), and 6·2% (CI:3·8% to 9·7%), respectively. Analysis by duration of trials showed stepwise increase in proportion of patients with ≥5% and ≥10% weight loss with increasing duration of study. Analysis of secondary outcomes found modest improvement in all analyses. The pooled average rate of overall AEs, serious AEs, and discontinuation was 73·7% (CI:68·0% to 79·0%), 3·4% (CI:2·4% to 4·5%), and 5·2% (CI:4·0% to 6·5%), respectively. In psychiatric complications, the pooled rates of anxiety and depression were 2·7% (CI:1·8% to 3·7%) and 2·5 (CI:1·7% to 3·3%). Interpretation: Our meta-analysis of placebo-treated participants in weight-loss RCTs indicate a significant placebo and nocebo effect. These findings are important to quantify their effect and may inform the design of future RCTs. Funding: This research did not receive additional support from organizations beyond the authors' academic institutions.
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