Maintenance of Blinding in Clinical Trials and the Implications for Studying Analgesia Using Cannabinoids.

ABSTRACT: The design of analgesic clinical trials invariably involves a comparison between placebo and active study medication. An assumption is made that treatment effects can be approximated by subtracting the response to placebo from that attained with the use of active study medication. However, the psychoactivity of cannabinoids may unmask their presence and lead to an expectation and/or conditioning of pain relief. For example, study participants biased toward the belief that cannabis is beneficial for their condition might be more inclined to report positive effects if they were to accurately identify the active treatment because of its psychoactivity. This may lead to incorrect assumptions regarding the efficacy of a cannabinoid. Methodologies designed to counteract unmasking need to be impl

SUBMITTER: Wilsey B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5549444 | biostudies-literature | 2016

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature