Placebo Economics: A Systematic Review About the Economic Potential of Utilizing the Placebo Effect.

ABSTRACT: Background: Recent research shows that placebo mechanisms can be utilized in ethical and legal ways such as in open-label conditions, when patients know that they receive placebos, and through psychological interventions aiming to optimize patients' expectations. Showing that placebo interventions are also cost-efficient could improve their acceptability. Objective: To review studies that performed health economic evaluations (HEEs) of intentional placebo interventions and to review studies that intentionally applied placebo interventions and reported outcomes eligible for HEEs. Methods: Two systematic reviews of the literature were performed. For the first review, we searched MEDLINE using "placebo" and Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms associated with HEEs such as "costs," "cost-bene

SUBMITTER: Hamberger J 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6751772 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature