QUALITY-OF-LIFE ASSESSMENT DURING 6 MONTHS OF NSAID TREATMENT [GONARTHROSIS AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE (GOAL) STUDY]

Objective To identify the time point of the greatest degree of improve ment in daily living activities, pain and depression in patients with osteoarthritis (OA) of the knee during 6 months of treatment with NSAI Ds, in order to define compliance and drop-out rate. Methods 107 patie nts were recruited into a multicentre, prospective, randomized, contro lled trial comparing two treatments, piroxicam-beta-cyclodextrin (PBCD ) and slow release diclofenac (DCL). Results The greatest improvement in quality of life occurred in both groups after 3 months, with a slig ht further gain observed by the end of treatment. The Stanford Health Assessment Questionnaire score improved (p < 0.05 vs baseline) at 3 an d 6 months with PBCD and at 6 months with DCL. The Arthritis Impact Me asurement Scale score improved (p < 0.05 vs baseline) after 6 months i n both groups. Significant (p < 0.05 vs baseline) improvement in other psychological and pain scores were recorded in both groups after 3 an d 6 months. Compliance with treatment at 3 months was 73% for PBCD and 72% for DCL, and was 60% in both groups at 6 months. Conclusions The results of this study indicate that the optimal length of time for an NSAID trial in OA patients is 3 months, when assessment of daily livin g activities is considered as the main outcome criterion.