Evidence map›Paper›PMID 18056743›Full record

Trial reportBMJ (Clinical research ed.)2008

Advice to use topical or oral ibuprofen for chronic knee pain in older people: randomised controlled trial and patient preference study.

Martin Underwood, Deborah Ashby, Pamela Cross, Enid Hennessy, Louise Letley, Jeannett Martin, Shahrul Mt-Isa, Suzanne Parsons, Madge Vickers, Ken Whyte and 1 more

Open access · bronzeAbstract readComparative StudyMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMJ (Clinical research ed.), 2008. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 27 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
27citing papers in PubMed, 5 pooled it
7.6field-weighted citation impact, top 2% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

27 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 115 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Guideline
  2. Pooled it
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  5. Pooled it
  6. Trial
  7. Trial
  8. Article
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  10. Review
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  14. Review
  15. Article
  16. Pharmacotherapies in Geriatric Chronic Pain Management.Clinics in geriatric medicine · 2016
    Review
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Review
  20. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

11 authors at 4 institutions in 1 country.

Martin UnderwoodCentre for Health Sciences, Barts and The London, Queen Mary, University of London, London E1 2AT.
Deborah Ashby
Pamela Cross
Enid Hennessy
Louise Letley
Jeannett Martin
Shahrul Mt-Isa
Suzanne Parsons
Madge Vickers
Ken Whyte
TOIB study team
Queen Mary University of London · GBFramework · GBLondon South Bank University · GBUniversity of Hertfordshire · GB

Funding

Department of Health 01/09/02Medical Research Council MC_U122785831Medical Research Council MC_U122797165
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveTo determine whether older patients with chronic knee pain should be advised to use topical or oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).

designRandomised controlled trial and patient preference study.

setting26 general practices.

participantsPeople aged > or =50 with knee pain: 282 in randomised trial and 303 in preference study.

interventionsAdvice to use topical or oral ibuprofen. Primary outcome measures WOMAC (Western Ontario and McMaster Universities) osteoarthritis index, major and minor adverse effects.

resultsChanges in global WOMAC scores at 12 months were equivalent. In the randomised trial the difference (topical minus oral) was two points (95% confidence interval -2 to 6); in the preference study, it was one point (-4 to 6). There were no differences in major adverse effects in the trial or study. The only significant differences in secondary outcomes were in the randomised trial. The oral group had more respiratory adverse effects (17% v 7%,95% confidence interval for difference -17% to -2%), the change in serum creatinine was 3.7 mmol/l less favourable (0.9 micromol/l to 6.5 micromol/l); and more participants changed treatments because of adverse effects (16% v 1%, -16% to -5%). In the topical group more participants had chronic pain grade III or IV at three months, and more participants changed treatment because of ineffectiveness.

conclusionsAdvice to use oral or topical preparations has an equivalent effect on knee pain over one year, and there are more minor side effects with oral NSAIDs. Topical NSAIDs may be a useful alternative to oral NSAIDs.

trial registrationISRCTN 79353052.

Indexed as

Patient SatisfactionAdministration, OralAdministration, TopicalAgedAnalgesics, Non-NarcoticAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalChronic DiseaseFemaleFollow-Up StudiesHumansIbuprofenKnee JointMaleMiddle AgedPainPatient Education as TopicAnalgesics, Non-NarcoticAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalIbuprofen

Identifiers

PMID18056743
PMCPMC2206271
OpenAlexW2124298870

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.