Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 April 2020
A review of the literature on placebo-controlled studies in schizophrenia reveals, that the percentage of placebo responders in short-term trials amounts to 0–40%; on active treatment the response rate is 40–60%. In relapse prevention studies 18–100% of patients on placebo relapsed as compared to 0–40% on active treatment. Factors of importance for the variability between studies are discussed. Desirable designs of explanatory and pivotal studies, the importance of placebo controlled relapse prevention studies, and more rigorous assessment methods, eg video-taped and structured interviews for diagnostic and symptom rating purposes, are proposed as a means to improve the quality of the clinical documentation of new drugs.
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