Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom

OBJECTIVES: To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery. METHODS: British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towar...

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Autors principals: Wartolowska, K, Beard, D, Carr, A
Format: Journal article
Idioma:English
Publicat: Public Library of Science 2014
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author Wartolowska, K
Beard, D
Carr, A
author_facet Wartolowska, K
Beard, D
Carr, A
author_sort Wartolowska, K
collection OXFORD
description OBJECTIVES: To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery. METHODS: British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use. RESULTS: 100 surgeons who participated in the survey believed that placebo surgery is ethically acceptable (96%), especially as a part of a clinical trial (46%). Respondents thought that a placebo effect in surgery is real i.e. has a scientific basis (92%), that placebo can be therapeutically beneficial (77%), and that it involves psychological mechanisms (96%). Over half of the respondents (58%) have used a surgical procedure with a significant placebo component at least once in their professional career. Their main concern about placebo use in surgery was that it might involve an element of deception. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Surgeons generally agreed that a placebo component to surgical intervention might exist. They also supported placebo use in clinical trials and considered it ethical, providing it does not involve deception of patients. More studies are needed, particularly among other surgical specialties and with larger numbers of participants, to better understand the use of placebo in surgery.
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spelling oxford-uuid:4ffeb874-da18-4ff7-88a1-2bbf506ffa0d2022-03-26T16:10:55ZAttitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United KingdomJournal articlehttp://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_dcae04bcuuid:4ffeb874-da18-4ff7-88a1-2bbf506ffa0dEnglishSymplectic Elements at OxfordPublic Library of Science2014Wartolowska, KBeard, DCarr, AOBJECTIVES: To survey surgeons on their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo in surgery. METHODS: British orthopedic shoulder surgeons, attending a national conference in the United Kingdom, were asked to complete a self-report online questionnaire about their beliefs and attitudes towards the use of placebo related to surgical intervention. The survey included questions about ethical issues, the mechanism of placebo effects, and any concerns regarding its use. RESULTS: 100 surgeons who participated in the survey believed that placebo surgery is ethically acceptable (96%), especially as a part of a clinical trial (46%). Respondents thought that a placebo effect in surgery is real i.e. has a scientific basis (92%), that placebo can be therapeutically beneficial (77%), and that it involves psychological mechanisms (96%). Over half of the respondents (58%) have used a surgical procedure with a significant placebo component at least once in their professional career. Their main concern about placebo use in surgery was that it might involve an element of deception. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Surgeons generally agreed that a placebo component to surgical intervention might exist. They also supported placebo use in clinical trials and considered it ethical, providing it does not involve deception of patients. More studies are needed, particularly among other surgical specialties and with larger numbers of participants, to better understand the use of placebo in surgery.
spellingShingle Wartolowska, K
Beard, D
Carr, A
Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title_full Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title_fullStr Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title_full_unstemmed Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title_short Attitudes and Beliefs about Placebo Surgery among Orthopedic Shoulder Surgeons in the United Kingdom
title_sort attitudes and beliefs about placebo surgery among orthopedic shoulder surgeons in the united kingdom
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AT carra attitudesandbeliefsaboutplacebosurgeryamongorthopedicshouldersurgeonsintheunitedkingdom