Addressing the “It Is Just Placebo” Pitfall in CAM: Methodology of a Project to Develop Patient-Reported Measures of Nonspecific Factors in Healing

Table 1

Examples of item rewriting during item bank development phase of the HEAL project.

Domain	Original question	Rationales for rewriting	Revised item
Positive and negative attitudes	I often feel lonely because I have few close friends with whom to share my concerns.	Double-barreled item (several concepts within one question)	I feel lonely.
Treatment expectancy/credibility	I do not think the chiropractor can help me.	Negatively worded item, specific to one treatment provider/modality	I expect this treatment to help me.
Patient-provider encounter	I trust my therapist.	Specific to one provider	I trust my healthcare provider.
Locus of control/self-efficacy	In this life what happens to me is determined by fate.	Wordy	My life is influenced by fate.