Abstract
Objective:
To validate a placebo compression stocking.
Design:
Subjects were asked to identify as the same or different, placebo (P) and medical compression stockings (MCS) presented in a controlled randomised masked manner.
Setting:
A university hospital in Paris, France, and Innothera Laboratory.
Patients, participants:
One hundred and twenty-seven volunteers.
Main outcome measures:
Recognition of P versus MCS.
Results:
The false response rates in the visual test were 46.6% for physicians and 47.6% for non-physicians; in the touch test, 19.7% and 34.5% respectively, and in the wearing test, performed by non-physicians, 25.4%.
Conclusions:
P was valid in the visual part of the study but not in its touching or wearing parts. However, the large number of false responses in the non-physician group indicates that the use of a placebo stocking would be a methodological improvement compared with the usual open studies.
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