Placebo analgesia: clinical considerations

From a research design perspective, the presence of placebo response is undesirable and must be controlled as it complicates the demonstration of 'real' treatment effect. From a clinical perspective, it is intriguing to note that the condition of patients in the placebo control groups did improve considerably in many of these validation studies, although in the majority the improvement was not so marked as in the treatment groups. Conspicuously, some neuro-physiological and psychological aspects of the placebo effects may have clinical use in enhancing the effect of pain treatments and their outcomes. Provides clinicians with an overview of the construct and research related to placebo analgesia as well as a discussion of the potential clinical use of certain components of placebo analgesia to enhance pain rehabilitation outcomes in physiotherapy practice. (Original abstract - amended)