Placebo effects in medicine: A bibliometric analysis

OBJECTIVE: It was the aim of this bibliometric analysis to identify all publications dealing with so-called 'context effects/placebo effects' to bring some organisation into the publication landscape of the past 35 years. DESIGN: An electronic database search was carried out in Pubmed from its inception to November 2011. PARTICIPANTS: Already published articles and their participants were included. SETTING: This review was carried out at an academic institution. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Condition, country, year, journal, number of authors, type of publication and main focus of the publication. RESULTS: There are slight differences in the focus and the origin of research. Although the subject is multidimensional and covering all areas in healthcare, only a few research disciplines cover the field of placebo effects. The research field is shrinking as evident by the smaller number of researchers publishing in this field. It is suggested that the discussion regarding placebo and context effects is getting more homogenous and is turning into a specific field by itself. There is an increasing concentration of placebo effects being reproduced in experimental settings. CONCLUSION: It is debatable whether the complexity of the broad range of what produces placebo effects can be successfully detected in a randomized controlled trial setting.