Overall and specific treatment effects of pharmacological interventions for hand osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials
Authors' conclusion
Topical NSAIDs showed relatively greater overall treatment effects among the included pharmacological interventions for pain relief, functional improvement and stiffness reduction in hand OA. The effects were mainly attributable to the contextual effect.
Study context
- Population
- Randomised controlled trials (RCTs) of pharmacological interventions for hand osteoarthritis (OA); 15 interventions evaluated
- Participants
- 3,763 participants34 RCTs
- Comparison
- Pharmacological interventions addressed in EULAR or American College of Rheumatology (ACR) guidelines vs placebo
- Outcome
- Pain
Methodological detailsrandom-effects models, Searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science up to 7 April 2025
- Random-effects models
- Searched PubMed, Embase, Cochrane Library and Web of Science up to 7 April 2025
Pooled result
As reported in the abstract
Pain, overall treatment effect
| Group | SRM | 95% CI |
|---|---|---|
| Topical NSAIDs | −1.69 | −2.56 to −0.82 |
Topical NSAIDs
SRM−1.69
95% CI−2.56 to −0.82
Further pooled results
| Outcome | Topical NSAIDs |
|---|---|
| Function, overall treatment effect | |
| SRM | −0.99 |
| 95% CI | −1.13 to −0.85 |
| Stiffness, overall treatment effect | |
| SRM | −1.43 |
| 95% CI | −2.50 to −0.35 |
Function, overall treatment effect
- Topical NSAIDs superior to placebo for function
Stiffness, overall treatment effect
- Topical NSAIDs not superior to placebo for stiffness
Contribution of contextual effects to topical NSAIDs' overall treatment effect
- Proportion attributable to contextual effects
- ≈70%
Original publication
Overall and specific treatment effects of pharmacological interventions for hand osteoarthritis: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials. Osteoarthritis Cartilage. Published 25 September 2026. doi:10.
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