Lessons Learned from Attempts To Establish the Blind in Placebo-Controlled Trials of Zinc for the Common Cold

Editorials15 August 2000Lessons Learned from Attempts To Establish the Blind in Placebo-Controlled Trials of Zinc for the Common ColdNorman A. Desbiens, MDNorman A. Desbiens, MDUniversity of Tennessee College of Medicine—Chattanooga Unit; Chattanooga, TN 37403 (Desbiens)Search for more papers by this authorAuthor, Article, and Disclosure Informationhttps://doi.org/10.7326/0003-4819-133-4-200008150-00016 SectionsAboutFull TextPDF ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissions ShareFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail “ … anything tasting as bad as zinc and with as much aftertaste as zinc must be good medicine” (1).Where would the evidentiary basis of medicine be without the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial? Over the past half-century, this type of trial has evolved from being considered an interesting statistical approach to being recognized as the study design associated with the least threat to the validity of findings (2). If only this trial could be applied to the study of every test, treatment, and diagnostic approach in clinical practice! However, with increased application has come greater awareness of its limitations ...References1. Farr BM, Gwaltney JM. The problems of taste in placebo matching: an evaluation of zinc gluconate for the common cold. J Chronic Dis. 1987;40:875-9. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar2. Shapiro AK, Shapiro E. The Powerful Placebo. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr; 1997:137-74. Google Scholar3. Kaptchuk TJ. Powerful placebo: the dark side of the randomised controlled trial. Lancet. 1998;351:1722-5. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar4. Kienle GS, Kiene H. Placebo effect and placebo concept: a critical methodological and conceptual analysis of reports on the magnitude of the placebo effect. Altern Ther Health Med. 1996;2:39-54. MedlineGoogle Scholar5. Ney PG, Collins C, Spensor C. Double blind: double talk or are there ways to do better research. Med Hypotheses. 1986;21:119-26. CrossrefMedlineGoogle Scholar6. Prasad AS, Fitzgerald JT, Bao B, Beck FW, Chandrasekar PH. Duration of symptoms and plasma cytokine levels in patients with the common cold treated with zinc acetate. A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial. Ann Intern Med. 2000;133:245-52. LinkGoogle Scholar Author, Article, and Disclosure InformationAffiliations: University of Tennessee College of Medicine—Chattanooga Unit; Chattanooga, TN 37403 (Desbiens)Corresponding Author: Norman A. Desbiens, MD, University of Tennessee College of Medicine—Chattanooga Unit, 975 East Third Street, Box 94, Chattanooga, TN 37403. PreviousarticleNextarticle Advertisement FiguresReferencesRelatedDetailsSee AlsoDuration of Symptoms and Plasma Cytokine Levels in Patients with the Common Cold Treated with Zinc Acetate Ananda S. Prasad , James T. Fitzgerald , Bin Bao , Frances W.J. Beck , and Pranatharthi H. Chandrasekar Blinding in Placebo-Controlled Trials Ananda S. Prasad Blinding in Placebo-Controlled Trials George E. Ehrlich Blinding in Placebo-Controlled Trials Norman A. Desbiens Metrics Cited ByReporting of placebo medication descriptors in randomised controlled trials: A review of three medical journalsMisrepresentation and distortion of research in biomedical literatureTemporal trends in dietary supplement prescriptions of United States military service members suggest a decrease in pyridoxine and increase in vitamin D supplements from 2005 to 2013The risk of unblinding was infrequently and incompletely reported in 300 randomized clinical trial publicationsBlinding in Randomized Clinical Trials: Imposed ImpartialityZinc lozenges for the common cold: Should we ignore the side-effects?BlindnessTowards a proposal for assessment of blinding success in clinical trials: up-to-date reviewTHE COMMON COLDCurrent and future therapeutic approaches to the common coldIn randomized controlled trials, should subjects in both placebo and drug groups be expected to guess that they are taking drug 50% of the time?The placebo effect and randomized trials: analysis of alternative medicineExperiencia, ciencia y “medicina basada en pruebas” en Atención PimariaBlinding in Placebo-Controlled TrialsAnanda S. Prasad, MD, PhDBlinding in Placebo-Controlled TrialsGeorge E. Ehrlich, MD 15 August 2000Volume 133, Issue 4Page: 302-303KeywordsAdverse reactionsClinical trialsCommon coldCytokinesDrug administrationDrugsOilsTasteZinc ePublished: 15 August 2000 Issue Published: 15 August 2000 CopyrightCopyright © 2000 by American College of Physicians. All Rights Reserved.PDF DownloadLoading ...