Table 3.
Overall pattern of current and previous medication use
| Paracetamol | NSAID | Cox2 inhibitor | Oral co-codamol | Other oral opioida | Transdermal opioid | Glucosamine/Chondroitin | Hydroxychloroquine | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Current drug use | 124 (62) | 71 (35) | 6 (3) | 58 (29) | 47 (23) | 14 (7) | 12 (6) | 4 (2) |
| Prescription drug | 47 (38) | 40 (56) | 6 (100) | 47 (81) | 47 (100) | 14 (100) | 0 (0) | 4 (100) |
| Reason for use | ||||||||
| For most painful joint | 68 (55) | 46 (65) | 3 (50) | 36 (62) | 22 (47) | 2 (14) | 1 (12) | 2 (50) |
| For overall pain | 56 (45) | 25 (35) | 3 (50) | 22 (38) | 25 (53) | 12 (86) | 11 (88) | 2 (50) |
| Drug experience | ||||||||
| Effective | 50 (40) | 49 (69) | 3 (50) | 32 (55) | 29 (62) | 6 (43) | 7 (58) | 3 (75) |
| Not effective | 74 (60) | 22 (31) | 3 (50) | 26 (45) | 18 (38) | 8 (57) | 5 (42) | 1 (25) |
| Side effects | 3 (2) | 12 (17) | 6 (100) | 24 (41) | 24 (51) | 3 (21) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) |
| Frequency of use | ||||||||
| Regular use | 28 (23) | 18 (25) | 5 (83) | 19 (33) | 22 (47) | 12 (86) | 11 (88) | 4 (100) |
| Only when in pain | 96 (77) | 53 (75) | 1 (17) | 39 (67) | 25 (53) | 2 (14) | 1 (12) | 0 (0) |
| Previous drug use | 52 (26) | 119 (60) | 4 (2) | 87 (43) | 53 (26) | 9 (4) | 70 (35) | 5 (3) |
| Reason stoppedb | ||||||||
| Side effects | 1 (2) | 78 (66) | 4 (100) | 52 (60) | 43 (81) | 4 (44) | 4 (5) | 4 (80) |
| Inefficacy | 42 (81) | 32 (26) | 0 (0) | 20 (23) | 6 (11) | 3 (33) | 58 (83) | 1 (20) |
| Loss of efficacy | 9 (17) | 7 (5) | 0 (0) | 7 (7) | 1 (2) | 0 (0) | 3 (4) | 0 (0) |
| Doesn’t like taking pills | 0 (0) | 1 (1) | 0 (0) | 5 (5) | 1 (2) | 2 (22) | 4 (5) | 0 (0) |
| Pain not severe enough | 0 (0) | 4 (3) | 0 (0) | 5 (5) | 2 (0) | 1 (11) | 2 (3) | 0 (0) |
Values shown are number of participants (%)
aOther oral opioid includes codeine phosphate, tramadol and oral morphine
bSome participants had more than one reason for stopping medication