Discontinuing NSAIDs in Veterans With Knee Osteoarthritis

Summary

Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is now recognized as a major health problem. It is the number one cause of lower extremity disability and has significant deleterious effects on quality of life. While there are numerous therapies available for knee OA, most have limited efficacy. Of particular concern, is the widespread use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) for this disorder. Veterans, as a group, are at high risk for both gastrointestinal and cardiovascular NSAID-induced complications. In this study the investigators propose to examine whether replacing NSAIDs with cognitive behavioral therapy delivered by telephone is an effective strategy for Veterans with knee OA. Telephone-administered therapy is particularly appealing since Veterans with knee OA are more likely to have limited mobility. If successful, this program may result in significant cost-savings for both Veterans (decreased co-pays and transportation costs) and the VA (decreased hospitalizations due to NSAID induced toxicity).

Timeline

Start

2013-09-02

Primary completion

2018-10-05

Completion

2018-10-05

Publications

• Background Goulet JL, Buta E, Brennan M, Heapy A, Fraenkel L. Discontinuing a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) in patients with knee osteoarthritis: Design and protocol of a placebo-controlled, noninferiority, randomized withdrawal trial. Contemp Clin Trials. 2018 Feb;65:1-7. doi: 10.1016/j.cct.2017.11.020. Epub 2017 Dec 2.
• Fraenkel L, Buta E, Suter L, Dubreuil M, Levy C, Najem C, Brennan M, Corn B, Kerns R, Goulet J. Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Drugs vs Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Arthritis Pain: A Randomized Withdrawal Trial. JAMA Intern Med. 2020 Sep 1;180(9):1194-1202. doi: 10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.2821.

Drugs

Indications