Placebo Interventions in General Practice

November 19, 2008 updated by: University of Zurich

Physicians often have an ambivalent relationship to placebo interventions. On the one hand they know of the intriguing effect of sugar pills or saline infusions but on the other hand they mostly feel constrained to adopt scientifically proven, specific therapies for ethical reasons. Against the background of international literature one can assume that also Swiss general practitioners use several forms of placebo interventions in a significant part of their patients.

The aim of the project is to ascertain to which extent and in which way Swiss general practitioners make use of placebo interventions. Furthermore knowledge of the mode of action of placebo interventions and the perceived moral and lawful permissibility of placebo interventions and the presumed attitudes of the patients will be investigated.

The empicical core of the study is a questionnaire survey of general practitioners in urban and rural areas of Switzerland. The results and conclusions of the survey will be discussed during a workshop with interested GPs, researchers and ethicists.

The obtained data will lead to a better understanding of the application of placebo interventions in the general practice in Switzerland (how often and in which manner, accompanied by what information, for which diseases and for which patient groups placebos are applied). Moreover the study will help to articulate potential moral ambiguities of physicians using placebo interventions.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Anticipated)

600

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Child
  • Adult
  • Older Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Yes

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Sampling Method

Probability Sample

Study Population

general practitioners and pediatricians in medical practice of the canton Zurich in Switzerland

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • general practitioners and pediatricians in medical practice of the canton Zurich in Switzerland

Exclusion Criteria:

  • no patient encounters

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Zurich

Collaborators

Swiss Academy of Medical Sciences (SAMS)

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

November 1, 2007

Primary Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2008

Study Completion (Actual)

March 1, 2008

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

January 16, 2008

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 28, 2008

First Posted (Estimate)

January 29, 2008

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

November 20, 2008

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2008

Last Verified

November 1, 2008

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Other Study ID Numbers

  • RRMA-5-07

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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