Placebo therapy in dermatology

Exploring changes in placebo treatment arms in hidradenitis suppurativa randomized clinical trials: A systematic review

BACKGROUND

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is characterized by recurrent, painful nodules in flexural areas.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to explore the placebo response in HS randomized clinical trials and to compare it briefly with the placebo response in psoriasis and atopic dermatitis.

METHODS

A Cochrane Review on interventions in HS was used as a starting point, and a systematic review was then undertaken by using the PubMed database, yielding 7 HS randomized clinical trials for inclusion in this study.

RESULTS

This review demonstrates that there is a robust placebo response in HS that is most marked in physical signs but also marked in pain responses.

LIMITATIONS

Multiple outcome measures utilized in these studies and reporting bias limited this review.

CONCLUSION

This large placebo response has implications for clinical trial design. This knowledge can also help deliver improved clinical care by forming the basis of nonpharmacologic treatments and help optimize current medication use to maximize the placebo effect.

Non-obligatory role of prostaglandin D2 receptor subtype 1 in rosacea: laropiprant in comparison to a placebo did not alleviate the symptoms of erythematoelangiectaic rosacea

Erythematotelangiectatic rosacea shares facial flushing features with those seen after niacin. This study was performed to test the hypothesis whether prostaglandin D2 (PGD2) receptor subtype 1 antagonist (laropiprant) will improve the symptoms of rosacea. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of laropiprant 100 mg administered once daily for 4 weeks on the signs and symptoms of erythematotelangiectatic rosacea. Subjects received laropiprant 100 mg once-daily (n = 30) or placebo (n = 30) for 4 weeks. The primary pharmacodynamics endpoint was change in Clinician's Erythema Assessment (CEA) score from baseline to week 4. The patient self-assessment (PSA) was a secondary endpoint. Laropiprant was generally well tolerated in this study for the primary endpoint of change in CEA score from Baseline to Week 4, the least-squares mean of change from baseline to visit 4/week 4 was -3.7 and -3.4 for placebo and laropiprant (100 mg), respectively. The least-squares mean difference (placebo minus laropiprant) with 90% confidence interval of change in CEA score from baseline to visit 4/week 4 was estimated as -0.3 (-1.6, 1.0). For the secondary endpoint, the least-squares mean difference (placebo minus laropiprant) with 90% confidence interval of change from baseline to visit 4/week 4 was estimated as -0.7 (-7.7, 6.4) for PSA total score, -4.5 (-14.2, 5.3) for PSA emotion score, -1.3 (-7.8, 5.3) for PSA symptoms score, and 3.6 (-4.3, 11.4) for PSA functioning score. Laropiprant administered once daily for 4 weeks was generally well tolerated in this population of subjects with rosacea. However, there were no clinically meaningful changes in the primary endpoint of CEA given that the response to laropiprant could not be differentiated from that to placebo. There was also no clinically meaningful change in the secondary endpoint, PSA. A DP1 antagonist is not likely to be effective in rosacea.

Mechanisms of the placebo response in pain in osteoarthritis

INTRODUCTION

Administration of a placebo associates with symptomatic improvement in many conditions--the so-called placebo response. In this review we explain the concept of placebo response, examine the data that supports existence in osteoarthritis (OA), and discuss its possible mechanisms and determinants.

METHODS

A Pubmed literature search was carried out. Key articles were identified, and their findings discussed in a narrative review.

RESULTS

Pain, stiffness, self-reported function and physician-global assessment in OA clearly improve in response to placebo. However, more objective measures such as quadriceps strength and radiographic progression appear less responsive. Although not directly studied in OA, contextual effects, patient expectation and conditioning are believed to be the main mechanisms. Neurotransmitter changes that mediate placebo-induced analgesia include increased endogenous opioid levels, increased dopamine levels, and reduced levels of cholecystokinin. Almost all parts of the brain involved in pain processing are influenced during placebo-induced analgesia. Determinants of the magnitude of placebo response include the patient-practitioner interaction, treatment response expectancy, knowledge of being treated, patient personality traits and placebo specific factors such as the route and frequency of administration, branding, and treatment costs.

CONCLUSION

Clearer understanding of the neurobiology of placebo response validates its existence as a real phenomenon. Although routine administration of placebo for symptomatic improvement is difficult to justify, contextual factors that enhance treatment response should be employed in the management of chronic painful conditions such as OA where available treatments have only modest efficacy.

The "placebo" response in osteoarthritis and its implications for clinical practice

Many observations support a major biological effect from the way in which people interpret the meaning of each component of their medical experience and the context in which this occurs. A recent systematic review of randomised controlled trials in osteoarthritis has demonstrated that the effect size of "placebo" is substantial and is usually greater than that obtained from the specific effect of an individual treatment. In the context of a randomised controlled trial, such a large placebo or "meaning" response is considered a nuisance, but in the context of clinical practice the optimisation of such meaning and contextual responses, through enhanced "care", could greatly benefit people who suffer from osteoarthritis.

Effects of patient satisfaction with care on health-related quality of life: a prospective study

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the effect of patient satisfaction on health-related quality of life among dermatological outpatients, independently of patients' sociodemographic, and clinical characteristics.

DESIGN

Prospective cohort study. Satisfaction was evaluated with a standardized questionnaire three days after the visit by telephone interview. Quality of life and psychiatric disorders were measured with validated instruments (Skindex-29 and Ghq-12) before the dermatological visit and after four weeks. At the four week interview also self-reported medication adherence was assessed.

SETTING

Outpatient clinics of a large dermatological hospital in Rome, Italy.

PATIENTS

A consecutive sample of 1389 outpatients was approached, and 52% agreed to participate. Inclusion criteria were met by 424 patients, and 396 (93%) of them completed the study.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Improvement in health related quality of life.

RESULTS

At multivariate analysis satisfied patients have approximately twice the odds for an improved quality of life on the emotions scale (OR = 1.99; 95%CI 1.1 to 3.7; P = 0.03) and on the functioning scale (OR = 2.2; 95%CI 1.1 to 4.7; P = 0.03). Patients with psychiatric disorders at baseline were less likely to have an improved quality of life on the functioning scale (OR = 0.3; 95%CI 0.2 to 0.8; P = 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

This is the first prospective study showing that patient satisfaction and psychiatric disorders have a significant effect on quality of life improvement among dermatological patients, independently of patient characteristics. Particular attention should be devoted to improving physicians' interpersonal skills, the major component of patient satisfaction.

Characteristic and incidental (placebo) effects in complex interventions such as acupuncture

The specific effects of non-pharmaceutical treatments are not always divisible from placebo effects and may be missed in randomised trials

Complementary therapy for psoriasis

The authors provide some specifications regarding the correct terminology to be applied in the field of complementary medicine, and review and comment on several complementary treatments for psoriasis. Putative psychotherapeutic equivalents are kept distinct from treatments based on the surreptitious administration of physical or pharmacologic agents. Limits on the application of psychotherapeutic techniques are discussed. Risks inherent to complementary treatments (psychological derangements, moral subjugation, physical damage, economic exploitation) are underscored. The authors plead for the application of adequate scientific criticism in complementary medicine, but warn that any approach to the practice of medicine which is not disinterested and patient oriented--as the academic one should be--will be inappropriate, misleading, or even immoral. In the authors' opinion, this could also apply to the evidence-based medicine movement (often perceived as the archenemy of alternative medicine), should this movement be influenced by economical, political, or other nonmedical factors.

Evaluating how placebos produce change. Logical and causal traps and understanding cognitive explanatory mechanisms

The renewed interest in placebo effects from psychological and methodological angles is manifested in two complementary facets: the causal relationship between placebo effects inside and outside of clinical trials and the continual effort to understand how the underlying mechanisms relate to notions of efficacy and effectiveness. The article challenges the premise that placebo effects can be measured precisely enough that variance attributed to "nonspecific" placebo effects can be hierarchically partitioned from variance attributed to other "more specific" elements of therapy and discusses some of the most important recent developments in the understanding of how placebos produce change through cognitive explanatory mechanisms, including efficacy, outcome, and response expectancies; reverse placebo effects; schemas; and biased-information processing. Although much is already known about the complexity of explanatory mechanisms in placebo and expectancy effects, there is still much to do before establishing causal relationships and developing valid treatments based on this knowledge.