ArticlePain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain2025
Do patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and healthy people differ in their opinions on placebo effects in routine medical care?
Article in Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- Do patients with fibromyalgia syndrome and healthy people differ in their opinions on placebo effects in routine medical care?Pain practice : the official journal of World Institute of Pain · 2025Article
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.
Funding
Abstract
objectivesPlacebo effects can relieve acute and chronic pain in both research and clinical treatments by learning mechanisms. However, the application of placebo-based treatment strategies in routine medical care is questioned. The current study investigated the opinions of patients with fibromyalgia and healthy controls regarding learning of placebo effects and their practical applications.
methodAn online survey asked 158 age- and sex-matched adult patients and controls (79 per group) to rate the perceived influence of various placebo learning mechanisms on pain relief, and the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of placebo-based strategies (open-label, closed-label, dose-extending, and treatment-enhancing strategies). Respondents' knowledge about placebo effects was obtained through a 7-item quiz.
resultsThe groups did not differ in the perceived influence of placebo learning mechanisms on pain relief (p = 0.217). Controls considered closed-label and treatment-enhancing strategies more acceptable than patients (p = 0.003 and p < 0.001), whereas controls perceived all strategies more effective. In both groups, closed-label strategies were significantly less acceptable than any other strategy (p-values < 0.001), and treatment-enhancing or dose-extending strategies were most acceptable. Higher acceptability was predicted by higher perceived effectiveness ratings (p < 0.001). Also, increased placebo knowledge was related to higher acceptability (p = 0.03) and perceived effectiveness (p < 0.001). DISCUSSION: This survey suggests that both the medical history of patients and knowledge about placebo effects affect the acceptability and perceived effectiveness of placebo-based strategies. Furthermore, strategies that are transparent, assumed effective, or combined with existing medical treatments are deemed most acceptable. Keeping these factors in mind is essential for the clinical implementation of placebo-based strategies in routine medical care.
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What OpenQuestion holds
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.