The nature and power of the placebo effect.
Progress in understanding the placebo effect and its clinical significance depends on conceptual clarification of this elusive phenomenon and critical appraisal of research bearing on the influence of placebo interventions on clinical outcomes. Here we locate the placebo effect within a typology of modes of healing, distinguish between the observed placebo response in randomized controlled trials and the placebo effect, and examine critically a recent meta-analysis of clinical trials that challenges the reality of the placebo effect.
Intramural Research Program, National Institute of Mental Health, Department of Clinical Bioethics, Clinical Center, National Institutes of Health, Building 10, Room 1C118, Bethesda, MD 20892-1156, USA. fmiller@nih.gov
Franklin G
FG
Miller
Donald L
DL
Rosenstein
D000698:Analgesia; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D006801:Humans; D015990:Placebo Effect; D010919:Placebos / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic
D010919:Placebos