Cheryl Spencer Department of Nursing, University of Haifa, Haifa, Israel.
Pediatric Department, Child Health Sport Center, Meir Medical Center, Sackler School of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
BMC Pediatr. 2019 Jan 10;19(1):15. doi: 10.1186/s12887-019-1394-x.
The aim of the study was to examine the influence of the placebo effect on the endurance capacity results in normal weight children.
Twenty-four pre-pubertal normal-weight children aged 6-13 years participated in the study. Subjects underwent anthropometric measurements (weight, height, BMI percentile, and fat percentage), a progressive treadmill exercise test to evaluate endurance capacity, and filled habitual activity questionnaire. The participants were examined twice, in a random order, with each child being compared to him/herself. Different types of information were provided regarding a water drink consumed prior to testing- standard information (water) vs. deliberate positive information (presumed energy drink, placebo).
Following the placebo drink, children demonstrated significantly higher peak pulse (177.9 ± 13.6 vs. 189.8 ± 12.2 bpm), higher stage achieved and longer time of exercise to exhaustion (700.1 ± 155.2 vs. 893.3 ± 150.1 s). Although the exercise duration was longer, stage and heart rate achieved were higher, the reported average, and peak rate of perceived exertion (RPE) were significantly lower for the placebo (18.3 ± 1.4 vs 16.2 ± 1.5). Although the effort was higher while drinking placebo (longer run, higher exercise phase, higher heart rate), recovery time was significantly shorter. The reported differences were not associated with order of tests, age, gender or child activity level.
Our results demonstrate a significant information placebo effect on children's endurance capacity test results. This highlights the possible role of positive information (placebo) in trying to encourage physical activity in children. Whether this effect could be applied to longer-term interventions has yet to be tested.
ClinicalTrial.gov identifier: NCT03165604 , Registered May 24, 2017.
本研究旨在探讨安慰剂效应对正常体重儿童耐力能力测试结果的影响。
24 名 6-13 岁的青春期前正常体重儿童参与了这项研究。受试者接受了人体测量学测量（体重、身高、BMI 百分位数和体脂百分比）、渐进式跑步机运动测试以评估耐力能力，并填写了日常活动问卷。参与者被随机检查了两次，每次将每个孩子与其自身进行比较。在测试前饮用的水提供了不同类型的信息——标准信息（水）与刻意的积极信息（假定的能量饮料，安慰剂）。
饮用安慰剂后，儿童的峰值脉搏明显升高（177.9±13.6 比 189.8±12.2 bpm），达到的阶段更高，运动至力竭的时间更长（700.1±155.2 比 893.3±150.1 s）。尽管运动时间更长，达到的阶段和心率更高，但报告的平均和峰值感知用力（RPE）明显更低（18.3±1.4 比 16.2±1.5）。虽然在饮用安慰剂时的努力更高（跑得更长，运动阶段更高，心率更高），但恢复时间明显缩短。报告的差异与测试顺序、年龄、性别或儿童活动水平无关。
我们的研究结果表明，儿童耐力能力测试结果存在显著的信息安慰剂效应。这突出了积极信息（安慰剂）在鼓励儿童进行体育活动方面的可能作用。这种效应是否可以应用于更长期的干预措施还有待测试。
ClinicalTrial.gov 标识符：NCT03165604，于 2017 年 5 月 24 日注册。
