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Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate that the administration of open-label placebos (OLP) can improve symptoms in various medical conditions. The primary aim of this 3-week randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of OLP treatments on pain, functional disability, and mobility in patient...

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Autores principales: Olliges, Elisabeth, Stroppe, Sabine, Haile, Anja, Reiß, Fabienne, Malhis, Marwa, Funke, Susanne A., Meissner, Karin
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Frontiers Media S.A. 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9122028/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35599777
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.853497
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author Olliges, Elisabeth
Stroppe, Sabine
Haile, Anja
Reiß, Fabienne
Malhis, Marwa
Funke, Susanne A.
Meissner, Karin
author_facet Olliges, Elisabeth
Stroppe, Sabine
Haile, Anja
Reiß, Fabienne
Malhis, Marwa
Funke, Susanne A.
Meissner, Karin
author_sort Olliges, Elisabeth
collection PubMed
description BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate that the administration of open-label placebos (OLP) can improve symptoms in various medical conditions. The primary aim of this 3-week randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of OLP treatments on pain, functional disability, and mobility in patients with arthritic knee pain. METHODS: Sixty patients (55% females; mean age, 66.9 ± 9.7 SD years) were randomized to one of two OLP treatments (n = 41) or no treatment (NT; n = 19). OLP treatments were accompanied by the verbal suggestion “to decrease pain” (OLP-pain, n = 20) or “to improve mood” (OLP-mood, n = 21). Pain and mood levels were monitored on 11-point Numeric Rating Scales (NRSs) in a patient diary, and global clinical improvement (CGI-I) was assessed at the end of the study. At baseline and after 21 days, patients filled in validated questionnaires to assess symptoms and functional disability of the knee (WOMAC), mental and physical quality of life (SF-36), state anxiety (STAI-state), perceived stress (PSQ-20), and self-efficacy (GSE). In addition, knee mobility (neutral zero-method), heart rate variability (HRV), and diurnal cortisol levels were evaluated before and after treatment. RESULTS: Evaluation of daily pain ratings indicated significant pain decrease in the OLP groups compared to NT (p = 0.013, d = 0.64), with no difference between the OLP-pain and the OLP-mood groups (p = 0.856, d = 0.05). OLP treatment also improved WOMAC pain (p = 0.036, d = 0.55), again with no difference between the two OLP groups (p = 0.65, d = 0.17). WOMAC function and stiffness, knee mobility, stress, state anxiety, quality of life, and self-efficacy did not change differently between groups. CONCLUSION: OLP treatment improved knee pain in elderly patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA), while functional disability and mobility of the knee did not change. The content of the verbal suggestion was of minor importance. OLP administration may be considered as supportive analgesic treatment in elderly patients with symptomatic knee OA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register (https://www.drks.de/), DRKS00015191 (retrospectively registered).
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spelling pubmed-91220282022-05-21 Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial Olliges, Elisabeth Stroppe, Sabine Haile, Anja Reiß, Fabienne Malhis, Marwa Funke, Susanne A. Meissner, Karin Front Psychiatry Psychiatry BACKGROUND: Recent studies indicate that the administration of open-label placebos (OLP) can improve symptoms in various medical conditions. The primary aim of this 3-week randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of OLP treatments on pain, functional disability, and mobility in patients with arthritic knee pain. METHODS: Sixty patients (55% females; mean age, 66.9 ± 9.7 SD years) were randomized to one of two OLP treatments (n = 41) or no treatment (NT; n = 19). OLP treatments were accompanied by the verbal suggestion “to decrease pain” (OLP-pain, n = 20) or “to improve mood” (OLP-mood, n = 21). Pain and mood levels were monitored on 11-point Numeric Rating Scales (NRSs) in a patient diary, and global clinical improvement (CGI-I) was assessed at the end of the study. At baseline and after 21 days, patients filled in validated questionnaires to assess symptoms and functional disability of the knee (WOMAC), mental and physical quality of life (SF-36), state anxiety (STAI-state), perceived stress (PSQ-20), and self-efficacy (GSE). In addition, knee mobility (neutral zero-method), heart rate variability (HRV), and diurnal cortisol levels were evaluated before and after treatment. RESULTS: Evaluation of daily pain ratings indicated significant pain decrease in the OLP groups compared to NT (p = 0.013, d = 0.64), with no difference between the OLP-pain and the OLP-mood groups (p = 0.856, d = 0.05). OLP treatment also improved WOMAC pain (p = 0.036, d = 0.55), again with no difference between the two OLP groups (p = 0.65, d = 0.17). WOMAC function and stiffness, knee mobility, stress, state anxiety, quality of life, and self-efficacy did not change differently between groups. CONCLUSION: OLP treatment improved knee pain in elderly patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis (OA), while functional disability and mobility of the knee did not change. The content of the verbal suggestion was of minor importance. OLP administration may be considered as supportive analgesic treatment in elderly patients with symptomatic knee OA. TRIAL REGISTRATION: German Clinical Trials Register (https://www.drks.de/), DRKS00015191 (retrospectively registered). Frontiers Media S.A. 2022-05-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9122028/ /pubmed/35599777 http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.853497 Text en Copyright © 2022 Olliges, Stroppe, Haile, Reiß, Malhis, Funke and Meissner. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
spellingShingle Psychiatry
Olliges, Elisabeth
Stroppe, Sabine
Haile, Anja
Reiß, Fabienne
Malhis, Marwa
Funke, Susanne A.
Meissner, Karin
Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_fullStr Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_full_unstemmed Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_short Open-Label Placebo Administration Decreases Pain in Elderly Patients With Symptomatic Knee Osteoarthritis – A Randomized Controlled Trial
title_sort open-label placebo administration decreases pain in elderly patients with symptomatic knee osteoarthritis – a randomized controlled trial
topic Psychiatry
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9122028/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35599777
http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpsyt.2022.853497
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