Article

Compared with other specialties, the field of physical and rehabilitation
medicine has not received the deserved recognition from clinicians and
researchers in the scientific community. One of the reasons is the lack of sound
evidence to support the traditional physical and rehabilitation medicine
treatments. The best way to change this disadvantage is through a well conducted
clinical research, such as standard placebo- or sham-controlled randomized
clinical trials. Therefore, having placebo groups in clinical trials is essential
to improve the level of evidence-based practice in physical and rehabilitation
medicine that ultimately translates to better clinical care. To address the
challenges for the use of placebo in physical and rehabilitation medicine and
randomized clinical trials and to create useful recommendations, we convened a
working group during the inaugural International Symposium in Placebo (February
2009, in Sao Paulo, Brazil) in which the following topics were discussed :
(1) current status of randomized clinical trials in physical and rehabilitation
medicine, (2) challenges for the use of placebo in physical and rehabilitation medicine,
(3) bioethics, (4) use of placebo in acupuncture trials and for the
treatment of low-back pain,
(5) mechanisms of placebo, and (6) insights from other specialties. The current article represents the consensus report from the
working group.

Langue : ANGLAIS