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Related Concept Videos

The Placebo Effect01:54

The Placebo Effect

The placebo effect occurs when people's expectations or beliefs influence or determine their experience in a given situation. In other words, simply expecting something to happen can actually make it happen.
Blind Procedures02:07

Blind Procedures

Ideally, the people who observe and record the children’s behavior are unaware of who was assigned to the experimental or control group, in order to control for experimenter bias. Experimenter bias refers to the possibility that a researcher’s expectations might skew the results of the study. Remember, conducting an experiment requires a lot of planning, and the people involved in the research project have a vested interest in supporting their hypotheses. If the observers knew which child was...
Blinding01:11

Blinding

Blinding is a commonly used method of not telling participants which treatment a subject is receiving. Blinding is a critical part of a randomized control trial or RCT. It reduces the bias that affects the results. In an RCT, blinding is used in the form of a placebo. A placebo effect occurs when untreated subjects falsely believe they have received the treatment and report improved symptoms. A placebo or a dummy treatment is administered to subjects to negate the bias caused by such an effect.

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Behavioral Characterization of Pentylenetetrazole-induced Seizures: Moving Beyond the Racine Scale
07:35

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Placebo effect in canine epilepsy trials.

K R Muñana1, D Zhang, E E Patterson

  • 1Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, 4700 Hillsborough Street, Raleigh, NC 27606, USA. karen_munana@ncsu.edu

Journal of Veterinary Internal Medicine
|November 17, 2009
PubMed
Summary

The placebo effect is significant in canine epilepsy trials, with many dogs showing reduced seizures. This highlights the need for placebo-controlled studies in veterinary medicine.

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Area of Science:

  • Veterinary Neurology
  • Pharmacology
  • Clinical Trials

Background:

  • The placebo effect is well-documented in human medicine, but its impact in veterinary patients is less understood.
  • Nonpharmacologic effects may influence response rates in canine epilepsy treatment trials.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To investigate the role and magnitude of the placebo effect in canine epilepsy.
  • To analyze seizure frequency changes in dogs receiving placebo in clinical trials.

Main Methods:

  • Meta-analysis of three prospective, placebo-controlled canine epilepsy trials.
  • Evaluation of seizure frequency per week for each dog relative to baseline.
  • Development of log-linear models to assess seizure frequency during placebo administration.

Main Results:

  • Twenty-two of 28 (79%) dogs receiving placebo showed a decrease in seizure frequency compared to baseline.
  • Eight dogs (29%) were considered responders, achieving a ≥50% reduction in seizures.
  • Average seizure reduction during placebo administration was 26% (P = .0018), 29% (P = .17), and 46% (P = .01) across the trials.

Conclusions:

  • Epileptic dogs can exhibit a positive response to placebo, characterized by decreased seizure frequency.
  • Findings suggest that results from open-label studies assessing antiepileptic drugs in dogs may be overestimated.
  • There is a clear need for more placebo-controlled trials in veterinary medicine to accurately assess treatment efficacy.