News » Research » Reduce the medication-related 'nocebo' effect
August 26th 2026
Expressing medication risk using percentages can help reduce the ‘nocebo’ effect of negative expectations about medication, a new study from Spain suggests.
Factors affecting the likelihood of documented medication concerns in patients with multimorbidity: a cross-sectional study in primary care published in BJGP finds that patients can be concerned about specific types of medications, including opioids – often associated with end-of-life care - and benzodiazepines due to fears of dependency and sedation.
The general factors that affect adherence include a lack of trust in healthcare providers or in the healthcare system, patients’ treatment necessity beliefs and views on potential adverse consequences. Forgetfulness, and financial constraints have also been associated with drug-related problems.
Negative outcomes from drug-related problems include falls, frailty, cognitive decline, medication overdose, poor disease management, reduced quality of life, increased healthcare costs, hospitalisations, and mortality.
