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Voorbij de witte jas: over opkomst en ondergang van het placebo-effect in nieuwe vormen van arts-patiënt-contact.

Dulmen, S. van. Voorbij de witte jas: over opkomst en ondergang van het placebo-effect in nieuwe vormen van arts-patiënt-contact. Gedrag & Gezondheid: 2002, 30(4), 274-283
Beyond the white-coat; the fall and rise of placebo effects in new types of medical visits. Within general practice, a doctor-patient contact can vary between a vis-à-vis contact and a more recently fashionable Internet contact. In between these two extremes, other types of contact are possible as well. It is questionable whether these different types of contacts are equally effective in terms of the generally acknowledged added therapeutic value of non-specific or placebo factors within the medical visit, such as anxiety reduction, conditioning effects and the influence of positive expectations. After giving an overview of the most relevant placebo components and its underlying mechanisms, the placebo effect of different types of doctor-patient contacts is being explored. This exploration warrants the conclusion that apart from the absence of non-verbal communication, the placebo effect of Internet contacts will gradually catch up with that of vis-à-vis contacts as soon as these new types of contact have shown to be effective as well. (aut.ref.)