Toward Better Outcomes in Osteoarthritis

April 30, 2013 updated by: Stanford University

Toward Better Outcomes in Osteoarthritis (OA): Finding the Appropriate Role for Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs)

This study will determine if there is a difference between commonly used nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and acetaminophen (a pain-reliever that does not prevent inflammation) for treating knee pain in osteoarthritis (OA). The two main results we will look at are disease progression according to x-rays and disability over 3.5 years. Study participants with moderate knee OA and knee pain will continue taking their NSAID or stop taking their NSAID and start taking acetaminophen. Every 6 months we will send the participants questionnaires that ask about pain, medication use, and disability. We will take x-rays of the knees at the start of the study and again at the end of the study.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are the most popular agents used to treat the joint pain and inflammation associated with OA. Although NSAIDs are useful for pain management, recent studies have not found NSAIDs to be better than acetaminophen for the treatment of painful knee OA. The relative lack of efficacy and possibility of accelerated disease progression, coupled with the known gastrointestinal risks of these medications, especially to the elderly, have led us to reevaluate NSAIDs as the first-line medical therapy for osteoarthritis. Our dominant NSAID-based approach to this disease may be resulting in unnecessary costs, unnecessary toxicity, and accelerated disability.

These data allow us to hypothesize that NSAIDs, by inhibiting pain and inflammation in osteoarthritic joints, may cause or encourage people with OA to overuse damaged joints, resulting in accelerated joint degeneration and joint replacements at an earlier time or, alternatively, that treatment with NSAIDs may accelerate joint damage by altering cartilage metabolism and inhibiting joint healing. We further hypothesize that anti-inflammatory therapy with NSAIDs results in toxicities that lead to increased comorbidity and higher medical care use compared to analgesic therapy for OA.

The specific aims of our study are to determine if (1) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy accelerates joint degeneration compared to analgesic medications; and (2) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug therapy results in greater comorbidity and higher medical care costs and use compared to simple analgesic medication. To accomplish these aims, we will randomize 200 people with knee OA and 200 people with hip OA, defined by a Kellgren and Lawrence x-ray grade of 2 or 3, currently on NSAIDs, to either NSAIDs at their current dose or acetaminophen up to 4000 mg/day for 4 years.

Primary outcome measures will be the rate of radiographic progression, and pain and disability in the two groups. Secondary outcome variables will include medical care use, time to joint replacements, and medication side-effect profiles. We will separately identify and describe those clinical, demographic, and radiographic variables that predict accelerated progression in each group by multivariate analyses. By these methods, we will determine the long-term outcome of NSAID therapy versus analgesic therapy for the treatment of clinical OA of the knee and hip. This information is critical to improving the outcome of a disease that is the principal cause of disability in the elderly.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment

900

Phase

  • Phase 3

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • California
      • San Francisco, California, United States, 94110
        • San Francisco General Hospital

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

50 years to 85 years (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • Knee osteoarthritis
  • Moderate radiographic evidence by Kellgren and Lawrence grade 2-4
  • Knee pain > 20 on VAS pain scale

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Bilateral knee replacements
  • Unwillingness to take acetaminophen for pain relief

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: None (Open Label)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Stanford University

Collaborators

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS)

Investigators

  • Study Director: Nancy Lane, MD, UCSF, Division of Rheumatology, SFGH

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

July 1, 1996

Study Completion

April 1, 2001

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 3, 1999

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 3, 1999

First Posted (Estimate)

November 4, 1999

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

May 3, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

April 30, 2013

Last Verified

April 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • P01 AR43584 Substudy 0003
  • P01AR043584 (U.S. NIH Grant/Contract)
  • NIAMS-033

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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