Table 2.
General opinions about placebo treatments*
| Statements | Opinions (% of participants, 95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strongly agree | Somewhat agree | Somewhat disagree | Strongly disagree | |
| Placebo treatments can produce physical changes in the body | 20.1 (17.4 to 22.8) | 49.4 (46.0 to 52.7) | 19.8 (17.1 to 22.5) | 10.7 (8.7 to 12.8) |
| For a placebo treatment to be effective, patients cannot know that they are receiving a placebo treatment | 68.7 (65.6 to 71.9) | 14.3 (12.0 to 16.7) | 7.3 (5.6 to 9.1) | 9.6 (7.6 to 11.6S) |
| Placebo treatments can only be effective if patients trust the physicians who recommend the treatment | 50.7 (47.3 to 54.0) | 30.3 (27.2 to 33.4) | 12.4 (10.1 to 14.6) | 6.77 (5.0 to 8.3) |
| Doctors should never recommend placebo treatments to patients | 11.4 (9.2 to 13.5) | 10.5 (8.5 to 12.6) | 38.7 (35.4 to 42.0) | 39.4 (36.1 to 42.7) |
| It is acceptable for doctors to recommend a placebo treatment if they believe the treatment will benefit the patients and not cause harm | 31.9 (28.8 to 35.1) | 44.3 (41.0 to 47.7) | 12.4 (10.2 to 14.6) | 11.3 (9.2 to 13.5) |
| It is acceptable for doctors to recommend a placebo treatment if they are uncertain about whether the treatment will provide a benefit for patients, so long as the doctors believes it is safe | 14.2 (11.8 to 16.6) | 35.9 (32.6 to 39.1) | 25.6 (22.6 to 28.5) | 24.4 (21.5 to 27.3) |
| In general, it is acceptable for doctors to offer a safe placebo treatment if it addresses the patients’ need to feel like they are being given something to get better† | 30.8 (27.7 to 34.0) | 39.1 (35.8 to 42.4) | 13.2 (10.9 to 15.5) | 16.8 (14.3 to 19.4) |
| If doctors recommend a placebo treatment, it is acceptable for the doctors to tell the patients that this treatment is a real medicine | 20.5 (17.8 to 23.3) | 25.9 (22.9 to 28.8) | 21.0 (18.3 to 23.8) | 32.6 (29.4 to 35.7) |
*Placebo treatment was explained: “A patient experiences a placebo effect when they get better after taking a treatment, not because of the treatment itself, but because the patient expects they will benefit from the treatment. For the rest of this survey, we will ask you to assume that a placebo treatment is a treatment that only works because it can produce a placebo effect. Placebo treatments can be sugar pills or other treatments used to create a placebo effect.”
†Response options for this item were: definitely yes, probably yes, probably not, definitely not.