Background & Aims
Non-specific effects, encompassing placebo and nocebo phenomena, significantly impact various health outcomes, including pain. Equipping healthcare professionals with comprehensive knowledge about these effects is crucial. The PANACEA consortium, funded by the European Union, seeks to enhance the understanding and utilization of placebo and nocebo mechanisms among healthcare students and professionals. The consortium aims to facilitate informed clinical decisions regarding the judicious application of these effects. This study aims to explore clinician perspectives on placebo and nocebo factors influencing treatment efficacy in their daily practice and to identify their training needs in this critical domain. By assessing current knowledge, views, and practices, we aim to contribute valuable insights for the development of curricula and targeted educational interventions.
Methods
We are conducting an online cross-sectional survey. Qualified clinicians actively working in Europe from any healthcare discipline or speciality are eligible to participate. Students, including those undertaking postgraduate training, are ineligible. Questions focus on definitions of placebo, nocebo and nonspecific effects; experience of observing these effects in the clinic; interventions that can cause these effects; harnessing of placebo effects and placebo interventions; frequency of use; circumstances of use; confidence in harnessing placebo effects; confidence in reducing nocebo effects; ethics; history of training in placebo and nocebo effects; interest in training; preferences for training; and demographics details (e.g. age, discipline). Descriptive statistics (means, SD, counts and percentages) will be used to analyse quantitative data. Content analysis will be used to analyse free-text data.
Results
The survey was disseminated from the 11 January 2024. The European Pain Federation EFIC (PANACEA consortium member) is leading a comprehensive communication strategy to ensure high survey uptake among the pain community. So far, 473 clinicians have started the survey, and 185 clinicians have completed the full survey. The results of the entire survey will be available at the time of the IASP Congress.
Conclusions
The results of the entire survey will be available at the time of the IASP Congress.
Given the absence of specific results at this stage, the anticipated conclusions emphasize the study’s importance in advancing healthcare by exploring clinician perspectives on placebo and nocebo effects. These insights are essential for enhancing patient care through informed clinical decisions, fostering a holistic approach, and tailoring education to meet clinician training needs, ultimately aligning with the PANACEA consortium’s goal of evidence-based implementation in clinical practice. The full survey results will be unveiled at the IASP Congress, offering comprehensive findings to further support these critical objectives.
References
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Presenting Author
Katia Mattarozzi
Poster Authors
Mary O'Keeffe
BSc Physio, PhD
University College Dublin and European Pain Federation EFIC
Lead Author
Nathan Skidmore
Teesside University and European Pain Federation EFIC
Lead Author
Arianna Bagnis
University of Bologna
Lead Author
Andrea Prof. dr. Evers
Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit at Leiden University’s Institute of Psychology
Lead Author
Stefanie dr. Meeuwis
Health, Medical, and Neuropsychology unit at Leiden University’s Institute of Psychology
Lead Author
Przemys?aw B?bel
Prof.
Jagiellonian University, Institute of Psychology, Pain Research Group
Lead Author
Johannes Vlaeyen
KU Leuven
Lead Author
Livia Guadagnoli
KU Leuven
Lead Author
Julia Haas
RPTU Kaiserslautern (RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau)
Lead Author
Marek Oleszczyk
Jagiellonian University
Lead Author
Agata Stalmach-Przygoda
Jagiellonian University
Lead Author
Alberico Tremigliozzi
RE2N
Lead Author
El?bieta A. Bajcar
PhD
Jagiellonian University
Lead Author
Magdalena Niedba?
MA
Jagiellonian University
Lead Author
Tom Beckers
KU Leuven
Lead Author
Eveliina Glogan
KU Leuven
Lead Author
Pieter Jan Heymans
KU Leuven
Lead Author
Antonio Portoles
Complutense University of Madrid
Lead Author
Katia Mattarozzi
University of Bologna
Lead Author
Topics
- Placebo