Fish oil in knee osteoarthritis: a randomised clinical trial of low dose versus high dose

Hill CL, March LM, Aitken D, et al. · Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases

High-dose fish oil was no better than low dose; the low-dose group actually had greater WOMAC pain and function improvement at 2 years, and MRI cartilage volume loss did not differ. No placebo arm, so neither dose is shown effective.

Population

Adults with symptomatic knee OA, multicentre, double-blind, 2 years

Intervention

High-dose fish oil (4.5 g omega-3/day)

Comparator

Low-dose fish oil blend (0.45 g omega-3/day)

Limitations

No true placebo (low-dose oil was the comparator); both arms improved, consistent with regression to the mean; cartilage outcome null.