Trial reportScientific reports2020
Open-label placebos for menopausal hot flushes: a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in Scientific reports, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT05051995 (Combined N-of-1 Trials to Assess Open-Label Placebo Treatment for Antidepressant Discontinuation Symptoms), which is not on this map. Cited by 29 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Combined N-of-1 Trials to Assess Open-Label Placebo Treatment for Antidepressant Discontinuation Symptoms
Who cites it
29 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Effects of open-label placebos across populations and outcomes: an updated systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- A systematic review and meta analysis of open label placebo effects in chronic musculoskeletal pain.Scientific reports · 2025Pooled it
- Effects of open-label placebos in clinical trials: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Scientific reports · 2021Pooled it
- Roles of administration route, expectation, and belief in placebos in a randomized controlled trial with open-label placebos.Scientific reports · 2025Trial
- Trial
- Open-label placebos enhance test performance and reduce anxiety in learner drivers: a randomized controlled trial.Scientific reports · 2024Trial
- Effectiveness of Conditioned Open-label Placebo With Methadone in Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2023Trial
- Trial
- Lay perspectives of the open-label placebo rationale: a qualitative study of participants in an experimental trial.BMJ open · 2021Trial
- Psychological Predictors of Response to Open-Label Versus Double-Blind Placebo in a Randomized Controlled Trial in Irritable Bowel Syndrome.Psychosomatic medicineTrial
- Menopausal Hormone Therapy-Risks, Benefits and Emerging Options: A Narrative Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Review
- The Possibility of Open-Label Use of Placebo in Healthcare Practice: A Systematic Review of Recent Clinical Trials.Cureus · 2025Review
- Open label placebo to treat fatigue in people with multiple sclerosis: feasibility and preliminary effects.Pilot and feasibility studies · 2025Article
- Efficacy of open-label placebos for premenstrual syndrome: a randomised controlled trial.BMJ evidence-based medicine · 2025Article
- Talking placebo: a qualitative study of patients' attitudes toward open-label placebo implementation into clinical practice.Frontiers in psychology · 2025Article
- Development and Psychometric Evaluation of the Hope in Medicine Scale.Clinical psychology in Europe · 2024Article
- Boosting open-label placebo effects in acute induced pain in healthy adults (BOLPAP-study): study protocol of a randomized controlled trial.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
- Article
- Psychological risk factors for Long COVID and their modification: study protocol of a three-arm, randomised controlled trial (SOMA.COV).BJPsych open · 2023Article
- Placebo effects in osteoarthritis: implications for treatment and drug development.Nature reviews. Rheumatology · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
This study investigated the efficacy of an open-label placebo (OLP) treatment for menopausal hot flushes. Women with at least five moderate or severe hot flushes per day were allocated to receive four weeks of OLP for twice a day or no-treatment. Intention-to-treat analyses included n = 100 women. In comparison to no-treatment, OLP reduced the log-transformed hot flush composite score (frequency × intensity) (mean difference in change: - 0.32, 95% CI [- 0.43; - 0.21], p < 0.001, Cohen's d = 0.86), hot flush frequency (- 1.12 [- 1.81; - 0.43], p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.51), and improved overall menopause-related quality of life (- 2.53 [- 4.17; - 0.89], p = 0.02, Cohen's d = 0.49). Twelve (24%) (vs. three [6%]) patients had 50% lesser hot flushes. Problem rating of hot flushes and subdomains of quality of life did not improve. After four weeks, the OLP group was further divided via randomization to continue or discontinue the treatment. Benefits were maintained at week 8 (log-transformed score: - 0.04 [- 0.06; 0.14], p = 0.45). There was no difference between taking placebos for 8 or 4 weeks (log-transformed score: 0.04 [- 0.17; 0.25], p = 0.73). Results indicate that open-label placebos may be an effective, safe alternative for menopausal hot flushes.
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What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.