title: Predicting potential placebo effect in drug treated subjects.
abstract: Non-specific responses to treatment (commonly known as placebo response) are pervasive when treating mental illness. Subjects treated with an active drug may respond in part due to non-specific aspects of the treatment, i.e, those not related to the chemical effect of the drug. To determine the extent a subject responds due to the chemical effect of a drug, one must disentangle the specific drug effect from the non-specific placebo effect. This paper presents a unique statistical model that allows for the separate prediction of a specific effect and non-specific effects in drug treated subjects. Data from a clinical trial comparing fluoxetine to a placebo for treating depression is used to illustrate this methodology.
authors.affiliation: New York University, USA.
authors.forename: Eva
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Petkova
authors.forename: Thaddeus
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tarpey
authors.forename: Usha
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Govindarajulu
mesh_terms: D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D003863:Depression / Q000188:drug therapy; D005473:Fluoxetine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D015233:Models, Statistical; D015990:Placebo Effect; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors / Q000627:therapeutic use; D016896:Treatment Outcome
chemical_list: D005473:Fluoxetine; D017367:Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors