Turmeric for Patients With Basal Joint Arthritis

November 19, 2025 updated by: Neal Chung-Jen Chen, Massachusetts General Hospital

A Randomized Controlled Trial Using Turmeric for Patients With Basal Joint Arthritis

The aim of this study is to assess whether the use of a commercially available nutraceutical, turmeric, is an effective option to manage pain and stiffness in patients with basal joint arthritis. To conduct a pilot Randomized Controlled Trial evaluating the impact of turmeric on basal joint arthritis.

Study Overview

Status

Recruiting

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

60

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

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

Study Contact

Study Contact Backup

Study Locations

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

40 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 40 years of age or older
  • English fluency and literacy
  • Seeking care for basal joint pain
  • Tender over basal joint
  • Positive distraction rotation test (rotation of the thumb metacarpal base while applying axial traction)
  • Radiographic evidence of Eaton stage 1 and 2 only

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Secondary gains (litigations or worker compensation) procedures that may interfere with patients' motivation for treatment
  • Inability or unwillingness to participate in a trial study
  • Rheumatoid Arthritis or other inflammatory disorder diagnoses
  • Post-traumatic osteoarthritis
  • Patients on Coumadin/Steroids/NSAIDs/Tylenol
  • Diabetes Mellitus
  • Pregnant or lactating women
  • Basal joint arthritis of Eaton stage 3
  • Patients seeking other treatment for their basal joint arthritis (splint, corticosteroid injection, surgery)

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: Quadruple

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Turmeric
Subjects in this group will receive turmeric (100 mg pastille) 3 times per day for 6 weeks.
Dietary supplement: Turmeric
Subjects will receive turmeric (100 mg pastille) 3 times per day for 6 weeks.
Placebo Comparator: Control
Subjects in this group will receive a placebo pill 3 times per day for 6 weeks.
Other: Placebo
Subjects in the control group will receive a placebo 3 times per day for 6 weeks.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Change in baseline pain intensity
Time Frame: Enrollment, 6 weeks, and 3 months
0-10 ordinal rating of pain intensity
Enrollment, 6 weeks, and 3 months
Change in baseline disability
Time Frame: Enrollment, 6 weeks, and 3 months
Disability measured by the QuickDASH
Enrollment, 6 weeks, and 3 months

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Neal Chen, MD, Massachusetts General Hospital

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 (Actual)

August 9, 2017

Primary Completion (Estimated)

December 1, 2027

Study Completion (Estimated)

January 1, 2028

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 7, 2016

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

January 9, 2017

First Posted (Estimated)

January 11, 2017

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimated)

November 24, 2025

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 19, 2025

Last Verified

November 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2016P001402

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

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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