Evidence map›Paper›PMID 36692805›Full record

SynthesisDrugs2023

Risk of COVID-19 Diagnosis and Hospitalisation in Patients with Osteoarthritis or Back Pain Treated with Ibuprofen Compared to Other NSAIDs or Paracetamol: A Network Cohort Study.

Junqing Xie, James T Brash, Cigdem Turkmen, Stefan Driessen, Giustino Varrassi, George Argyriou, Sarah Seager, Christian Reich, Daniel Prieto-Alhambra

Open access · hybridAbstract readMeta-Analysis
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Drugs, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
2.2field-weighted citation impact, top 14% 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

4 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Review
  2. Article
  3. Review
  4. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors at 6 institutions in 5 countries.

Junqing XiePharmaco- and Device Epidemiology, Centre for Statistics in Medicine-Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Windmill Road, OX37LD, Oxford, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0040-0042
James T BrashIQVIA, Real World Solutions, Brighton, UK.
Cigdem TurkmenEstablished Pharmaceuticals Division, Global Medical Affairs, Abbott Products Operations AG, Allschwil, Switzerland.
Stefan DriessenEstablished Pharmaceuticals Division, Global Biometrics, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V, Weesp, The Netherlands.
Giustino VarrassiDepartment of Research, Paolo Procacci Foundation, Rome, Italy.
George ArgyriouIQVIA, Real World Solutions, Brighton, UK.
Sarah SeagerIQVIA, Real World Solutions, Brighton, UK.
Christian ReichIQVIA, Real World Solutions, Cambridge, MA, USA.
Daniel Prieto-AlhambraPharmaco- and Device Epidemiology, Centre for Statistics in Medicine-Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology and Musculoskeletal Sciences, Botnar Research Centre, University of Oxford, Windmill Road, OX37LD, Oxford, UK. daniel.prietoalhambra@ndorms.ox.ac.uk.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3950-6346
IQVIA (United Kingdom) · GBNuffield Orthopaedic Centre · GBAbbott (Switzerland) · CHFondazione Roma · ITIQVIA (United States) · USISA Pharmaceuticals (Netherlands) · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveWe aimed to investigate whether ibuprofen use, compared with other non-selective non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (ns-NSAIDs), cyclooxygenase-2 inhibitors (COX-2i) or paracetamol, increases the risk of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis or hospitalisation.

designA prevalent user and active comparator cohort study.

settingTwo US claims databases (Open Claims and PharMetrics Plus) mapped to the Observational Medical Outcomes Partnership Common Data Model.

participantsInsured patients with a history of osteoarthritis or back pain and receiving ibuprofen, other ns-NSAIDs, COX-2i or paracetamol between 1 November, 2019 and 31 January, 2020 (study enrolment window 1) or between 1 February, 2020 and 31 October, 2020 (study enrolment window 2).

main outcome measuresLarge-scale propensity score matching and empirical calibration were used to minimise confounding. Incidence and hazard ratios of COVID-19 diagnosis and hospitalisation according to drug/s use were estimated and pooled in the same study period across data sources using a fixed-effects meta-analysis. Index treatment episode was the primary risk evaluation window, censored at the time of discontinuation.

resultsA total of 633,562 and 1,063,960 participants were included in periods 1 and 2, respectively, for the ibuprofen versus ns-NSAIDs comparison, 311,669 and 524,470 for ibuprofen versus COX-2i, and 492,002 and 878,598 for ibuprofen versus paracetamol. Meta-analyses of empirically calibrated hazard ratios revealed no significantly differential risk of COVID-19 outcomes in users of ibuprofen versus any of the other studied analgesic classes: hazard ratios were 1.13 (0.96-1.33) for the ibuprofen-ns-NSAIDs comparison, 1.03 (0.83-1.28) for the ibuprofen-COX-2i comparison and 1.13 (0.74-1.73) for ibuprofen-paracetamol comparison on COVID-19 diagnosis in the February 2020-October 2020 window. Similar hazard ratios were found on COVID-19 hospitalisation and across both study periods.

conclusionsIn patients with osteoarthritis or back pain, we found no differential risks of incident COVID-19 diagnosis or COVID-19 hospitalisation for ibuprofen users compared with other ns-NSAIDs, COX-2i or paracetamol. Our findings support regulatory recommendations that NSAIDs, including ibuprofen, should be prescribed as indicated in the same way as before the COVID-19 pandemic, especially for those who rely on ibuprofen or NSAIDs to manage chronic arthritis or musculoskeletal pain symptoms.

Indexed as

COVID-19OsteoarthritisAcetaminophenAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalBack PainCohort StudiesCOVID-19 TestingCyclooxygenase 2 InhibitorsHumansIbuprofenPandemicsAcetaminophenAnti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-SteroidalCyclooxygenase 2 InhibitorsIbuprofen

Identifiers

PMID36692805
PMCPMC9872078
OpenAlexW4317871467

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
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.