Table 1.

Key characteristics of the largest randomised controlled trials reporting gastrointestinal and cardiovascular events with currently licensed NSAIDs

	The multinational etoricoxib and diclofenac arthritis long-term (MEDAL) study	The therapeutic arthritis research and gastrointestinal event trial (TARGET)	The celecoxib long-term arthritis safety study (CLASS)
Number of participants	34 701	18 244	7968
Mean age (years)	63.2	63.4	60.2
Proportion of men (%)	25.8	23.6	31.2
Proportion of patients with osteoarthritis (%)	71.8	100	72.8
Drugs compared	Etoricoxib, diclofenac	Lumiracoxib, ibuprofen, naproxen	Celecoxib, diclofenac