Kaplan Nursing Practice Questions - Kaplan Nursing School Admissions Test Exam

Access More Questions

Read the passage and answer the question. The placebo effect — improvement in a patient's condition following a treatment with no active ingredient — is one of medicine's most studied phenomena. Researchers believe expectation, conditioning, and the patient-provider relationship all contribute. Modern clinical trials use placebo controls precisely because subjective improvements occur even when no drug is administered, making it essential to distinguish a medication's true biological effect from background expectations. What is the author's primary purpose in this passage?

To argue that placebos should replace conventional medications when possible. To explain why clinical trials use placebo controls. To criticize patients who believe in alternative medicine. To describe the history of pharmaceutical research.

Correct Answer:

To explain why clinical trials use placebo controls.

Access more questions from this quiz

Continue to Kaplan Nursing Practice Questions - Kaplan Nursing School Admissions Test Exam for more practice questions and the full quiz experience.

Access More Questions