{"id":5449,"date":"2013-03-28T07:55:04","date_gmt":"2013-03-28T11:55:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theness.com\/neurologicablog\/?p=5449"},"modified":"2013-03-28T09:35:46","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T13:35:46","slug":"do-97-of-uk-doctors-prescribe-placebos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theness.com\/neurologicablog\/do-97-of-uk-doctors-prescribe-placebos\/","title":{"rendered":"Do 97% of UK Doctors Prescribe Placebos?"},"content":{"rendered":"

A recently published survey<\/a> at PLOS One of UK primary care doctors reports that 97% have prescribed an “impure placebo” at least once in their career. Most news reporting of this survey leave off the “impure” bit.<\/p>\n

Let’s take a closer look at what this means.<\/p>\n

The survey asked about “pure” placebos, which are inactive sugar pills or a similar inactive treatment, and “impure” placebos, which are effective medicines given in a way that might not have a clinical effect. The survey found that only 12% have ever prescribed a pure placebo, and only 1% do it on a regular basis. However, 97% have prescribed impure placebo ever, and 77% on a regular basis.<\/p>\n

The survey had a 48% response rate, which is not bad for a survey, but this is why surveys are not considered strictly scientific. The low response rate introduces the potential for systematic bias – perhaps people who choose to respond do so because of a \u00a0certain attitude or belief that biases their responses.<\/p>\n

That aside, let’s look at what the authors consider “impure placebo.”<\/p>\n