International psychogeriatrics
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Change in agitation in Alzheimer's disease in the placebo arm of a nine-week controlled trial.
Placebo responses raise significant challenges for the design of clinical trials. We report changes in agitation outcomes in the placebo arm of a recent trial of citalopram for agitation in Alzheimer's disease (CitAD). ⋯ We observed significant placebo response which may be due to regression to the mean, response to a psychosocial intervention, natural course of symptoms, or nonspecific benefits of participation in a trial.