The Influence of Treatment Expectations on Clinical Outcomes and Cortisol Levels in Patients With Chronic Neck Pain: An Experimental Study

2019

Background The role of contextual factors like pre‐existing treatment expectations has been established. However, the effect of verbally delivered treatment expectations in patient–therapist communication has not been considered, nor has the role of cortisol changes within the placebo/nocebo response in people with chronic neck pain. Objective To examine the effect of verbally delivered treatment expectations on clinical outcomes in physical therapy practice and to determine if changes in cortisol levels are associated with changes in neck pain and disability. Methods Eighty‐three patients with chronic neck pain were randomly allocated to 3 different verbally delivered expectations (positiv…