----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002 11:58
AM
Subject: RE: Student question
Don,
Sorry, I pulled the wrong abstract for my last post. As I scanned
the titles I looked for a North American journal thinking that it would be
easier for most on this list (not all, I know) to find in their libraries. (I
will need interlibrary loan for any of them.) Here is an abstract for a
double-blind study that was published in Scandinavia. The abstract reports a
substantial placebo effect with an additional effect for the wrist placement.
As you can guess, I have not read the study so I cannot attest to the quality
of the research design.
I
was very skeptical about the effectiveness of these wristbands until I
started hearing about their use to reduce morning sickness. That caused
me to look a little more closely at the early research. That quick look and
some of the abstracts in my current look at PubMed suggests that there is
something going on. It might be largely a placebo effect, but there seems to
be a little added effect.
Any
funding agencies looking in: We could design a a well controlled randomized
double-blind trial for sea sickness. All we need is exclusive use of a cruise
ship for a month or so....
My
best
Dennis
|
Scand J Prim Health Care 2001 Mar;19(1):43-7 |
|
Acupressure treatment of morning sickness in pregnancy. A
randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled
study.
Norheim AJ, Pedersen EJ, Fonnebo V, Berge
L.
Havnegata General Practice, Harstad, Norway.
OBJECTIVE:
To find out whether acupressure wristband can alleviate nausea and vomiting in
early pregnancy. DESIGN: Double-blind, placebo-controlled study. SUBJECTS: 97
women with mean gestational length completed 8-12 weeks. MAIN OUTCOME
MEASURES: Symptoms were recorded according to intensity, duration and nature
of complaints. RESULTS: 71% of women in the intervention group reported both
less intensive morning sickness and reduced duration of symptoms. The same
tendency was seen in the placebo group, with 59% reporting less intensity and
63% shorter duration of symptoms. However, a significance level of 5% was
reached only in the case of duration of symptoms, which was reduced by 2.74
hours in the intervention group compared to 0.85 hours in the placebo group (p
= 0.018). CONCLUSIONS: Acupressure wristband might be an alternative therapy
for morning sickness in early pregnancy, especially before pharmaceutical
treatment is considered.
-----Original Message-----
From: don
allen [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Thursday, October 03, 2002
2:20 PM
To: Teaching in the Psychological
Sciences
Subject: Re: Student question
Dennis-
It will be a while before I can get a copy of
the article you mention, but my first concern would be that it appears NOT
to be a double-blind study. Placebo control is important, but if the person
administering the placebo has knowledge of the treatment/placebo status this
may compromise the study. EEE effects are always a danger. I'd take this
study with a very large grain of salt. Were there other studies which
included all of the proper controls?
-Don.
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