Any medical treatment has 2 components, the first being the specific effects of the treatment itself, the second, the knowledge that the treatment is being performed (the placebo effect). So far, the placebo effect has been studied by eliminating the specific effects of the therapy through the administration of a dummy treatment. A recent issue of Prevention and Treatment outlines a study comparing the effectiveness of hidden medical treatment (lack of patient knowledge that the treatment was being given) and open treatment (full disclosure). Using multiple patient samples (including Parkinson's disease, post-operation patients) and a sample of healthy volunteers, all study participants were informed ahead of time that analgesic treatment either would or would not be administered and that they would not be informed as to their treatment status. All experimental protocols were consistent with the Declaration of Helsinki. Medications studied included morphine, diazepam, propranolol, and atropine. Statistical analysis comparing open and hidden administration showed that the hidden administrations of pharmacological and nonpharmacological therapies are less effective than the open ones across the range of medical populations studied for both pain and anxiety. In particular, diazepam was found to be totally ineffective when covertly administered. Overall, treatments appear more effective when they are openly carried out although it remains unclear whether this is de to expectation of treatment outcome or other confounding factors. Perceived interruption of treatment (whether pain medication, diazepam, or subthalamic stimulation) also produces a more significant worsening of symptoms than a hidden interruption does. The authors stress the need for a better understanding of the role of psychological factors in medical treatment.
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Somehow I think that knowing about medical treatment does affect the outcome to some extent. This is a really interesting posting.
Posted by: Medical Billing Software | July 31, 2009 at 05:02 PM
This is quite an informative posting on the different effects of a medical treatment. Thanks for all these detail. It helps to know all these.
Posted by: Nurse Practitioner | August 02, 2009 at 10:59 AM