Trial reportScientific reports2024
Open-label placebos reduce weight in obesity: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2024. 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
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
4 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Open label placebo for chronic low back pain: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Pain management · 2025Pooled it
- Therapeutic Potential of White Kidney Beans (Foods (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Review
- The Possibility of Open-Label Use of Placebo in Healthcare Practice: A Systematic Review of Recent Clinical Trials.Cureus · 2025Review
- Effects of Open-Label Placebos on Visual Food Cue Reactivity in Children and Adolescents.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
Obesity is a major public health problem worldwide. Different approaches are known to face this problem, for example, dieting, surgery, or drug interventions. It has also been shown that placebos may help to reduce weight and hunger feelings, but the use of placebos is linked to problems with respect to the patient-healthcare-provider relationship. However, recent studies demonstrated that even placebos without deception (open-label placebos) affect symptoms such as pain, anxiety, or emotional distress. Here we aimed to examine whether an open-label placebo may help to lose weight in obesity. Our study included fifty-seven overweight and obese patients who aimed to lose weight using a combination of diet and sports. Patients were randomly divided into two groups. Participants in the open-label placebo group received two placebos each day. A treatment-as-usual group received no pills. Primary outcome included changes of body weight. Secondary outcomes were change of eating behavior and self-management abilities. After 4 weeks we found that participants in the open-label placebo condition lost more weight than the treatment-as-usual group. Furthermore, OLP treatment affected eating behavior. No effects for self-management abilities were found. Although further research is necessary, open-label placebos might help individuals to lose weight.
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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.