Abstract

Non-specific responses to treatment (commonly known as placebo response) are pervasive when treating mental illness. Subjects treated with an active drug may respond in part due to non-specific aspects of the treatment, i.e, those not related to the chemical effect of the drug. To determine the extent a subject responds due to the chemical effect of a drug, one must disentangle the specific drug effect from the non-specific placebo effect. This paper presents a unique statistical model that allows for the separate prediction of a specific effect and non-specific effects in drug treated subjects. Data from a clinical trial comparing fluoxetine to a placebo for treating depression is used to illustrate this methodology.

Recommended Citation

Petkova, Eva; Tarpey, Thaddeus; and Govindarajulu, Usha (2009) "Predicting Potential Placebo Effect in Drug Treated Subjects," The International Journal of Biostatistics: Vol. 5 : Iss. 1, Article 23.
DOI: 10.2202/1557-4679.1152
Available at: http://www.bepress.com/ijb/vol5/iss1/23