TABLE 1.

Artifacts and placebo effects: Future research directions.

Study description	Study arms	Next step example
Artifacts influence on provider behavior	(1) Enriched artifacts within medical setting (2) Neutral artifacts within medical setting (3) Impoverished artifacts within medical setting	Evaluate whether artifacts are associated with provider behavior change and increased placebo effects: e.g., do enriched artifacts cause doctors to engage in more eye contact or behave more empathically, as judged by blinded third-party raters
Artifact impact on placebo effect	(1) Sham treatment, enriched artifacts (2) Sham treatment, neutral artifacts (3) Sham treatment, impoverished artifacts	Evaluate whether sham acupuncture is more efficacious when delivered by a well-, versus neutrally-, versus poorly-dressed provider
Balanced placebo design with enrichment	(1) Verum treatment, enriched setting (2) Verum Treatment, Impoverished setting (3) Sham treatment, enriched setting (4) Sham treatment, Impoverished setting	Examine the interaction between treatment (verum versus sham) and office décor (well-furnished v. poorly furnished) on healthcare outcomes.