PBO
Medical abbreviation · Medical Research
| Stands for | Placebo |
|---|---|
| Categories | Medical |
PBO stands for Placebo, a medical research abbreviation.
Inactive substance or sham procedure made to look identical to the active treatment, used in controlled trials to separate a treatment's specific effects from expectation, the natural course of illness and regression to the mean. "PBO" labels the placebo arm in tables and figures.
Example: Responder rate 42% with drug vs 21% with PBO at week 12.
Usage notes
The Declaration of Helsinki restricts placebo use when effective treatment exists, so many trials compare a new treatment with standard care or add it on top of standard care. Placebo effects can be large for subjective outcomes such as pain. Side effects driven by negative expectations are called nocebo effects.
Related abbreviations
More medical research abbreviations
- NNT – Number needed to treat
- NPV – Negative predictive value
- NS – Not significant (statistically)
- ODD – Orphan drug designation
- OHRP – Office for Human Research Protections
- OR – Odds ratio
- PCORI – Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute
- PDUFA – Prescription Drug User Fee Act
- PI – Principal investigator
- PICO – Population, Intervention, Comparison, Outcome
- PMA – Premarket approval
- PMID – PubMed identifier
See all 94 medical research abbreviations →
This entry is for general education and is not medical advice. Abbreviation use varies between institutions; always confirm in context.