Trial reportBMC complementary medicine and therapies2020
The effect of curcumin ointment on knee pain in older adults with osteoarthritis: a randomized placebo trial.
Trial report in BMC complementary medicine and therapies, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
17 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 31 citations in OpenAlex.
- Randomized Controlled Trials Studying Nonoperative Treatments of Osteoarthritis Often Use Misleading and Uninformative Control Groups: A Systematic Review.Clinical orthopaedics and related research · 2025Pooled it
- Curcumin and multiple health outcomes: critical umbrella review of intervention meta-analyses.Frontiers in pharmacology · 2025Pooled it
- Efficacy and Safety of Curcumin andFrontiers in immunology · 2022Pooled it
- The efficacy and safety of Curcuma longa extract and curcumin supplements on osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Bioscience reports · 2021Pooled it
- A Topical Botanical Ointment for Self-Reported Hip and/or Knee Pain: A Randomized Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial.Journal of evidence-based integrative medicineTrial
- Curcumin as a natural therapeutic agent for osteoarthritis: molecular mechanisms, preclinical evidence, clinical applications, and future perspectives.Inflammopharmacology · 2026Review
- The effect of a topical curcumin formulation (VAS-101) on knee pain in adults with knee osteoarthritis: a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled study.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2026Article
- Natural products in the treatment of osteoarthritis: Current status and prospects.Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2025Review
- A Scoping Narrative Review of Curcumin in Pain Medicine: The Need for Further Study.Integrative medicine (Encinitas, Calif.) · 2025Review
- Efficacy and mechanisms of curcumin in the treatment of osteoarthritis: A scoping review.Biomolecules & biomedicine · 2025Article
- Aromatic Plants as Potential Resources to Combat Osteoarthritis.Combinatorial chemistry & high throughput screening · 2024Review
- In Vitro and In Vivo Efficacy of Topical Dosage Forms Containing Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System Loaded with Curcumin.Pharmaceutics · 2023Article
- Role of Turmeric and Curcumin in Prevention and Treatment of Chronic Diseases: Lessons Learned from Clinical Trials.ACS pharmacology & translational science · 2023Review
- Anti-Osteoarthritic Effects of Prunella Vulgaris and Gentiana Lutea In Vitro and In Vivo.Antioxidants (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
- Natural Herbal Non-Opioid Topical Pain Relievers-Comparison with Traditional Therapy.Pharmaceutics · 2022Review
- Analgesic and Anti-Inflammatory Properties of Two Hydrogel Formulations Comprising Polyherbal Extract.Journal of pain research · 2022Article
- Therapeutic Single Compounds for Osteoarthritis Treatment.Pharmaceuticals (Basel, Switzerland) · 2021Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundSome studies have shown the effect of oral administration of curcumin on knee pain. However, limited studies are available on the effect of topical curcumin. This study aimed to investigate the effect of curcumin ointment on knee pain in older adults with osteoarthritis.
methodsThis double-blind randomized placebo trial was conducted on 72 older adults with knee pain associated with osteoarthritis. The subjects were randomly assigned into an intervention and a placebo group to apply either curcumin 5% ointment or Vaseline ointment twice daily for 6 weeks. Using a Visual Analog Scale, the severity of knee pain was measured at the beginning of the study, at the end of the fourth and sixth week. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential methods.
resultsThe mean baseline knee pain intensity was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.15). The mean pain intensity was significantly lower in the intervention group than in the placebo group at the third measurement (P = 0.02). The repeated-measures analysis showed that over time, the curcumin significantly decreased the mean pain intensity in the intervention group (P = 0.001). The mixed model showed an absolute difference of 1.133 (i.e. 11.33 mm) score which signifies a medium effect size and that the patient in the intervention group achieved the minimal clinically important difference.
conclusionTopical administration of curcumin 5% ointment can significantly reduce knee pain in older adults with knee osteoarthritis. Curcumin ointment can be used as an alternative treatment in older adults with knee pain associated with osteoarthritis.
trial registrationRetrospectively registered in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) (IRCT20100403003618N6, 2019-03-08), https://en.irct.ir/trial/37155.
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Registered trials
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.