Nocebo in XXXX ; meta-analysis of placebo-controlled clinical trials.

@entity1 @entity23 @entity16 @entity195
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Nocebo is very prevalent among @entity16 resulting in low adherence and treatment outcome. We sought to examine the AEs following placebo administration in @entity23 ( @entity23 ) for @entity195 ( @entity195 ). METHODS: After a systematic Medline search for @entity23 for @entity195 pharmacological treatments, we assessed the number of placebo-treated @entity1 reporting at least one AE and the number of discontinuations because of placebo intolerance and searched for factors correlating to nocebo's extent. RESULTS: Data were extracted from 20 @entity23 fulfilling our search criteria. Of 3049 placebo-treated @entity1 , 57.8% (95% CI: 50.1%-66.7%) reported at least one AE and 6.6% (95% CI: 5.3%-8.4%) discontinued placebo treatment because of AEs. All @entity1 participating in these @entity23 reported similar AEs independently of the study arm they belonged. Nocebo AE rate and dropout rate were positively related to study population size. The rates of AEs and dropouts because of AEs were parallel between placebo and active arms of @entity23 (r=0.812, p<0.001 and r=0.787, p<0.001, respectively). Effectiveness rates correlated significantly to  -  s rate and dropout rate because of AEs in placebo treated @entity1 (r=0.787, p<0.001 and r=0.812, p<0.001, respectively). CONCLUSION: In @entity23 for @entity195 one out of fifteen @entity1 treated with placebo dropped out because of AEs and three out of five experienced AEs indicating that adherence and effectiveness may be adversely affected with additional implications for clinical practice. The principal implications of this paper are that nocebo deserves much.
