Annals of behavioral medicine : a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine
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Randomized Controlled Trial
A Comparison of Deceptive and Non-Deceptive Placebo Analgesia: Efficacy and Ethical Consequences.
Research has demonstrated the efficacy of analgesic placebos. The manner in which they are usually delivered deceptively raises questions about their impact on recipients. However, there has been little empirical investigation into the potential harms of analgesic placebo. Moreover, the role of deception in determining the magnitude of analgesic placebo response remains poorly understood. ⋯ Our results indicate that the placebo manipulation groups experienced an anti-sensitization effect. The use of analgesic placebo did not result in any detrimental ethical or psychological effects.