Research carried out at the University of Southampton has concluded that participants in drug trials should be better informed about the potential significant benefits and possible side-effects of placebos.
Placebos are traditionally thought of as ‘inert’ pills, given in trials to act as a yardstick or constant by which to measure the effects of new ‘active’ drugs. However, placebos themselves have been shown to create substantial health changes in patients.
“We believe the health changes associated with placebos should be better represented in the literature and given to patients before they take part in a clinical trial. At the moment these effects are largely being ignored in the patient information leaflets,” says lead researcher at Southampton, Dr Felicity Bishop.
The research team, led by the University of Southampton in collaboration with Harvard Medical School and Northern Arizona University, examined the wording of 45 participant information leaflets from clinical trials which used placebos and are listed on the UK Clinical Research Network Database.
The study showed the target treatments were prioritised over the placebo. Professor of Health Research at Southampton, George Lewith, comments: “The leaflets largely ignored the overwhelming evidence that placebos can actually have significant and sustained effects on people. This could affect the treatment beliefs and expectations of those volunteering for studies and in turn the results.”
Other University of Southampton sites
