Systematic Review of Nocebo Effects in Long-Term Health Conditions

13 experimental studies on nocebo effects in adults with chronic pain, asthma, Parkinson's disease, cancer, and dermatology were systematically reviewed. The review, authored by Billy A. Church and updated in May 2026, followed PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was preregistered on the Open Science Framework. Findings were synthesized narratively due to substantial heterogeneity in induction procedures and outcome measures.

Use Cases

• Informing clinical communication strategies based on evidence of nocebo induction through negative verbal suggestion.
• Identifying research gaps for future experimental studies based on inconsistent measurement of psychological moderators like anxiety.
• Synthesizing evidence on physiological and neurological symptom responses to negative expectations in chronic conditions.

Strengths

• Follows PRISMA 2020 guidelines and was preregistered, enhancing methodological transparency.
• Systematically reviews 13 experimental studies across five distinct long-term health conditions.
• Published under a CC-BY-4.0 license, allowing for open reuse and distribution.

Limitations

• Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment.
• Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
• The 13.3 KB file size indicates a very limited scope, likely containing only the review document.

Provenance

Source

figshare

Collection Method

Systematic literature review of MEDLINE, Web of Science, PsycINFO, and CINAHL up to August 2025.

Time Range

Studies included up to August 21,  2025.

Freshness

Last updated 2026-05-08 05:30:37; freshness should be verified.

Geography

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