Comparative effectiveness of different placebos and comparator groups for hand osteoarthritis exploring the impact of contextual factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials
Pooled result · Pain relief, SMD vs matched null-armResult — go to the resultEffect size −0.51 95% CI −0.61 to −0.42Authors' conclusion
The placebo response on pain for people with hand osteoarthritis was increased by appropriate blinding and a lower risk of bias assessment. Placebos were superior to a null-arm, while untreated control groups were not.
Study context
- Population
- RCTs of people with hand OA with a placebo or an untreated control group
- Participants
- 7,262 participants84 trials
- Comparison
- Placebos and untreated control groups vs imputed null-arms
- Outcome
- Pain relief (SMD vs null-arm)
Methodological detailsrandom effects meta-analysis, meta-regression, stratified models, Searched PubMed, EMBASE and CENTRAL from inception to December 26, 2021, Risk of bias assessed with Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool version 2
- Random effects meta-analysis
- Meta-regression
- Stratified models
- Searched PubMed, EMBASE and CENTRAL from inception to December 26, 2021
- Risk of bias assessed with Cochrane Risk-of-Bias tool version 2
Pooled result
Pain relief, SMD vs matched null-arm
Effect size
−0.51
95% CI −0.61 to −0.42
As reported in the abstract
Further pooled results
Contextual factors and pain relief (all comparators; 76 trials, 6462 participants in stratified analyses)
- Blinded trial designs associated with higher pain relief vs open-label design
- Low risk of bias associated with higher pain relief vs some concern or high risk of bias
Original publication
Comparative effectiveness of different placebos and comparator groups for hand osteoarthritis exploring the impact of contextual factors: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. Published 26 April 2024. doi:10.
Composed by AI from the published abstract and checked against it. How Briefs are made →