Psych

Placebo Effect

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Placebo Effect, Placebo, Nocebo Effect

  • Definitions
  1. Placebo Effect
    1. Therapy not relevant to condition being treated
    2. Dummy medication used for control group
    3. Latin derivation: "I will please"
  2. Nocebo Effect
    1. Opposite (or inverse) of the Placebo Effect
    2. Negative outcomes or symptoms resulting from a patient believing that an intervention will cause harm
  • General
  1. Response to Placebo: 20-30% of study participants
  • Efficacy
  1. Meta-analysis shows no therapeutic benefit of using Placebo
  2. Avoid treating medical conditions or symptoms with Placebo in clinical practice (aside from studies)
  3. References
    1. Hrobjartsson (2001) N Engl J Med 344:1594-602 [PubMed]