Effects of prescription nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs on symptoms and disease progression among patients with knee osteoarthritis

Lapane KL, Yang S, Driban JB, et al. · Arthritis & Rheumatology

Sustained prescription NSAID use showed small, non-significant trends toward better pain/function and 0.28 mm less joint-space narrowing — no evidence of accelerated radiographic progression in this OAI analysis.

Population

Osteoarthritis Initiative participants with knee OA (1,846 for symptoms; 1,116 for radiographs) analyzed as new users with marginal structural models

Intervention

Prescription NSAID use, short-term vs sustained

Comparator

Non-use

Limitations

Observational despite causal-inference modeling; confidence intervals wide and cross zero; prescription NSAIDs only, OTC ibuprofen use not captured as exposure.