NCT04497220

Poke and a Placebo

Will Negative Phrasing Create a Nocebo Effect During Epidural Placement When Compared to Positive Phrasing? A Randomized Controlled Trial

• Status: Recruiting
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 30 (estimated)
• Sponsor: University of Minnesota · Academic / Other
• Sex: Female
• Age: 18 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

To discover if a positive description of the procedure for an epidural can reduce the overall pain score associated with the procedure.

Detailed description

The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. One script will contain the wording "Poke and a burn" prior to subcutaneous local anesthetic administration for the epidural placement and one will contain "this is numbing medication, which will make the rest of the procedure go easier". There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.

Conditions

• Anesthesia

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
BEHAVIORAL	Negative Connotation Langauge	The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. The control script includes language containing the wording "Poke and a burn" said prior to numbing medication for the epidural procedure. There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.
BEHAVIORAL	Positive Connotation Language	The study intervention consists of two separate scripts read to the patient by the anesthesiologist performing their labor epidural. The experimental script includes language containing the wording "this is numbing medication, which will make the rest of the procedure go easier" said prior to numbing medication for the epidural procedure. There will be no difference in the epidural placement, medications, or the rest of the script.

Timeline

• Start date: 2021-07-12
• Primary completion: 2026-12-31
• Completion: 2026-12-31
• First posted: 2020-08-04
• Last updated: 2026-01-08

Locations

1 site across 1 country: United States