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