The Effect of Marketing Variable on Effect of Active Drugs

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The efficacy of the placebo effect has been proved in many prior studies by comparing the symptoms and measures of patients. Placebo has been proved to help in treating illnesses such as depression, stomach ulcer and chronic headaches. A Meta analysis checked 47 studies about placebo and showed great significance when a patient is treated with placebo pill, no active substance, just by activating conditioning and expectation mechanism in his body, thus providing to the healing process, and that is it's importance. In recent years studies established a relationship between marketing variables (such as price, label) to the efficacy of a product. In addition- a unique research run in 2008 showed a significant relationship between the marketing strategies and the efficacy of medication; more specifically, patients in this research experienced less (controlled) pain when treated with placebo medication introduced to them as more expensive than patients treated with placebo medication that was introduced to them as much cheaper. All patients were treated with the exact same medication. In the investigator's experiment the investigators design a laboratory experiment to determine if marketing factors could invoke the placebo effects described earlier. For the initial laboratory experiment, we decided to examine the difference in price, on the efficacy of an OTC analgesic through the mediation of low- voltage electrical pulses to the patient's wrist. The investigators study hypothesis is that marketing variables such as price and brand name will affect the therapeutic efficacy of an analgesic, i.e. a medicine will have greater influence when the patient is aware of its price compared to one who is not.

Official Title
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The Effect of Price and Marketing Variable on the Pain Controlling Effect of Active Drugs in a Clinical Trial.

Conditions
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Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Drug: High price
* Drug: Low price
* Drug: Low price participants aware paying part
* Drug: No price
* Drug: Free of charge


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Healthy Volunteer participants will be between the ages of 18 and 65 Exclusion Criteria: Candidates who have had a history of cardiac problems, epilepsy, diabetes, or are pregnant will be excluded. Taking no pain medication at the time of the experiment.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 65 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Single


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Active Comparator: High price<br> | Drug: High price<br>* Acetaminophen label as high price<br>|
| Active Comparator: Low price<br> | Drug: Low price<br>* Acetaminophen label as low price<br>|
| Active Comparator: Low price participants aware paying part<br> | Drug: Low price participants aware paying part<br>* Acetaminophen label as low price; participants aware they are paying part of the full price<br>|
| Active Comparator: No price<br> | Drug: No price<br>* acetaminophen. No price - price issue not introduced to participants.<br>|
| Active Comparator: Free of charge<br> | Drug: Free of charge<br>* Acetaminophen. participants aware the product is free of charge<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| pain thresholds | Participants will rank their pain thresholds individually and subjectively for a series of pulses. Each participant will experience a series of pulses with random intensity. Pulse intensity will range within 30-90% of the participants maximal level. | 1hour | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Placebo effect;, Pain; Analgesic;, Electrical shock, control in healthy volunteers