Gender and the Placebo Analgesic Effect in Acute Pain Averbuch M, Katzper M Clin Pharmacol Ther. 2001;70:287-291 The placebo effect has been well documented in the literature. Pain experts believe that males and females respond differently to pain, but few studies have evaluated the effect of gender on analgesic response. This meta-analysis was performed to examine the gender effect in placebo response to post-third molar extraction dental pain of a large number of subjects included in double-blind, placebo-controlled studies. A total of 596 subjects (325 female and 271 male) included in the placebo arms of 16 studies were evaluated in this analysis. Study subjects were all older than 16 years. Pain relief scores were measured at least at 0.5, 1, 1.5, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 hours after administration of an analgesic dose. Initial pain states were either severe or moderate. At baseline, 44% of women indicated severe pain whereas only 26% of men categorized their pain as severe. The difference between these 2 groups was significant; P < .001. Pain intensity and pain relief scores demonstrated a placebo effect of about 10% in the pooled data set. The placebo effect was noted equally in both genders. The mean pain intensity scores over time were similar for both males and females throughout the post medication assessments. Rescue medication was needed at 1.55 hours for male subjects and at 1.5 hours for female subjects.Editor's Comment This meta-analysis indicates that a gender difference does not exist in the analgesic response to placebo medication of patients participating in short-term pain trials. Differences were noted between the genders with respect to initial pain intensity reports, suggesting some gender differences may exist for pain tolerance. The patients included in this study suffered from only 1 type of pain. Different models of pain may need to be tested to substantiate this information Remember we are NOT Doctors and have NO medical training. This site is like an Encylopedia - there are many pages, many links on many topics. Support our work with any size DONATION - see left side of any page - for how to donate. You can help raise awareness of CAM.