L. Salvadorcarulla et C. Rodriguezblazquez, PSYCHOSOCIAL MODIFIERS OF DRUG PRESCRIPTION - THE HIDDEN FACE OF PHARMACOLOGY, Pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety, 7(1), 1998, pp. 23-29
Apart from placebo, there is scant medical knowledge regarding the inf
luence of psychosocial effect modifiers in pharmacology. Phenomena suc
h as the nocebo, Hawthorne, Oedipus and complacency effects have been
previously described as sources of bias in clinical trials; however, t
he effects related to prescription patterns have been widely ignored t
o date. Under certain circumstances, psychosocial effects may even be
catalysts for changes in the official regulations on drug prescription
- changes often lacking an adequate scientific basis - and, subsequen
tly, induce major changes in drug use worldwide. In spite of this, the
study of psychosocial effects in pharmacology has been confined to an
ecdotal reports. The present overview of this topic is aimed at encour
aging the identification of psychosocial effects in pharmacology. It a
lso suggests that commercial case studies of drugs are a suitable meth
od for studying prescription and effect modifiers. Triazolam's commerc
ial history provides a good example of this approach. A better knowled
ge of these effects may contribute to a better understanding of the pr
escription habits observed in clinical practice. It may also prevent p
aradoxical changes in prescription patterns or in drug regulations. (C
) 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.