Table 4.
Scenarios for query on whether doctors should tell patients when they think a treatment is safe but no better than a placebo*
| Scenarios | % of participants (95% CI) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Definitely yes | Probably yes | Probably not | Definitely not | |
| If patients tell the doctor that they read about the treatment on the internet or in a magazine but have not tried it yet | 63.3 (60.1 to 66.6) | 22.7 (19.9 to 25.6) | 8.3 (6.5 to 10.2) | 5.6 (4.0 to 7.2) |
| If patients tell the doctor that a good friend is using the treatment and felt it was really helping | 49.6 (46.2 to 53.0) | 27.7 (24.7 to 30.7) | 14.6 (12.2 to 17.0) | 8.1 (6.2 to 9.90) |
| If patients tell the doctor that they have been using the treatment for the past two weeks and it seems to be helping | 33.9 (30.7 to 37.1) | 22.5 (19.7 to 25.3) | 25.4 (22.4 to 28.3) | 18.2 (15.6 to 20.8) |
*See box, scenario 4.