ArticleSpine surgery and related research2021
Comparison of the Effectiveness of Pharmacological Treatments for Patients with Chronic Low Back Pain: A Nationwide, Multicenter Study in Japan.
Article in Spine surgery and related research, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.
What it found
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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.
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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.
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Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.
- Comparison of the efficacy and safety of acetaminophen versus NSAIDs for the treatment of chronic pain in older adults with osteoarthritis of the hip and knee: Findings from the randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, non-inferiority RETHINK study.Osteoarthritis and cartilage open · 2026Article
- Randomized open-label non-inferiority trial of paracetamol or celecoxib for patients with chronic low back pain.Scientific reports · 2025Article
- Assessment of muscle fiber types transformation in rats with discogenic low back pain using diffusion tensor image of paraspinal muscles.BMC medical imaging · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
24 authors at 20 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionChronic low back pain (CLBP) is a leading cause of disability, yet there is limited high-quality evidence to identify the most suitable pharmacological therapy. The purpose of this Japanese nationwide, multicenter, prospective study was to compare the effectiveness of four representative drug therapies-acetaminophen, celecoxib, loxoprofen, and a tramadol and acetaminophen (T+A) combination drug-to establish evidence for a drug of choice for CLBP.
methodsPatients with CLBP (N=471) received one of the four treatments and were evaluated, prospectively and comprehensively, once every month for six months using a visual analog scale (VAS) for LBP, the Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score, the JOA Back Pain Evaluation Questionnaire (JOABPEQ), the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RDQ), the EuroQol five-dimensions three-levels (EQ-5D-3L), and the Short Form-8 item health survey (SF-8). We conducted multivariable linear regression analyses of the four drugs at 1 and 6 months after drug allocation. Differences with
resultsPatients who received acetaminophen showed a significant improvement from baseline in the mental health subscale of the JOABPEQ at one month (
conclusionsMost of the outcome measures among the treated groups were not significantly different, indicating similar treatment effects of the four drugs for CLBP. Our study indicated the limit of each outcome measure for evaluating the patient status, suggesting that a single outcome measure is insufficient to reflect treatment effectiveness.
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