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- Title
Warning about side effects can increase their occurrence: an experimental model using placebo treatment for sleep difficulty.
- Authors
Colagiuri, Ben; McGuinness, Kari; Boakes, Robert A; Butow, Phyllis N
- Abstract
Patients in clinical practice and participants in clinical trials are warned about side effects that may result from their treatment. Such warnings could lead to placebo-induced side effects if they create an expectation of these effects. We used an experimental model to test this possibility. Undergraduates reporting sleep difficulty received placebo treatment disguised as a hypnotic for one week and were warned about either one or four bogus side effects. Placebo treatment significantly improved sleep difficulty relative to a no treatment control group, as indicated by self-report and by objective outcomes. At the end of the treatment week participants who had been warned about a single side effect showed better recall of this effect than those warned about four side effects. Most importantly, participants tended to report experiencing a side effect they had been warned about, with a trend towards a larger effect in participants warned about one side effect. This evidence for placebo-induced side effects may need to be considered when interpreting data on side effects from clinical trials.
- Subjects
DRUG side effects; PLACEBOS; SLEEP disorders treatment; PHYSICIAN practice patterns; CLINICAL trials; EXPERIMENTAL pharmacology; EXPERIMENTAL psychology
- Publication
Journal of Psychopharmacology, 2012, Vol 26, Issue 12, p1540
- ISSN
0269-8811
- Publication type
Article
- DOI
10.1177/0269881112458730