European journal of neurology : the official journal of the European Federation of Neurological Societies
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Meta Analysis
Nocebo as a potential confounding factor in clinical trials for Parkinson's disease treatment: a meta-analysis.
Nocebo refers to adverse events (AEs) generated by patient's negative expectations that medical treatment will likely harm instead of heal and can be assessed in placebo-controlled randomized controlled trials (RCTs). We examined AEs following placebo administration in RCTs for Parkinson's disease (PD). ⋯ Our analysis indicates a significant dropout rate related to nocebo in trials for PD treatment. Adherence and efficacy may be adversely affected with additional implications for clinical practice.