Table 4 Motives for the use of placebo interventions among the 167 users
From: Use of placebo interventions among Swiss primary care providers
N | I use pure and impure placebos* | I use only impure placebos* | I use no placebos at all | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
To conform with the requests of the patient | 159 | 17 (11%) | 83 (52%) | 59 (37%) |
To gain a therapeutic advantage through the placebo effect | 157 | 31 (20%) | 77 (49%) | 49 (31%) |
To still be able to offer a treatment option to a patient with an „incurable” disease | 154 | 12 (8%) | 55 (36%) | 87 (56%) |
To offer a treatment in situations in which standard treatments may strongly burden patients with side effects or are contraindicated | 158 | 13 (8%) | 46 (29%) | 99 (63%) |
To offer a treatment to patients whose complaints and test results are not attributable to a certain disease (unspecific complaints) | 162 | 24 (15%) | 80 (49%) | 58 (36%) |
To offer treatment to difficult patients with psychological peculiarities, i.e. constant unwarranted complaints | 156 | 19 (12%) | 61 (39%) | 76 (49%) |
To test whether the pain is psychogenic or organic | 154 | 20 (13%) | 12 (8%) | 122 (79%) |
To avoid drug addiction | 155 | 12 (8%) | 35 (23%) | 108 (70%) |