Chronic back pain is the second most common cause of incapacity to work in Germany. © iStock.com/Wavebreakmedia

Will that help me too? Positive treatment expectations through observation in patients with back pain

Project A13
Team

Positive expectations of a treatment can influence the sensation of pain and the efficacy of medication. But how can we selectively control patient expectations? Early studies indicate that simply observing successfully treated patients has a positive effect on one's own treatment expectations and changes the sensation of pain. This project will investigate this in patients with chronic back pain, with the long-term objective of improving treatment outcomes and reducing the use of medication.

Optimisation of treatment expectations in patients with chronic back pain through observation of others

This project will systematically vary patient expectations of treatment by showing them a positive or neutral treatment outcome in other patients. The effect of this expectation modulation on treatment outcome will be studied using analgesics or open-label placebos. In order to obtain both clinical and mechanistic data, the two factors – expectation and treatment – will be fully crossed. This will enable us to investigate the potential interaction effects of expectation and pharmacological analgesia.