Open AccessA critical analysis of evidence for using sham surgery in Parkinson's disease: implications for public health
Author(s) -
Polgar Stephen,
Ng Joanna
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
australian and new zealand journal of public health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.946
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1753-6405
pISSN - 1326-0200
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-842x.2007.00060.x
Subject(s) - sham surgery , public health , disease , medicine , parkinson's disease , evidence based medicine , surgical procedures , intensive care medicine , alternative medicine , surgery , pathology
Sham surgery was introduced as a means for improving the methodological quality of surgical research and evaluation. The development of cellular‐based surgical therapies for the treatment of Parkinson's disease provides an opportunity to carefully analyse the alleged methodological benefits of sham surgery. However, detailed analysis of the evidence does not support these hypothesised advantages. In this paper, we argue that sham surgery is a public health concern as vulnerable individuals are exposed to unnecessary and costly surgical procedures that have no benefits for ensuring rigorous health research.