Table 2.
Baseline characteristics of participants
| Baseline characteristic | Specific effect trials (n = 11) |
Overall effect trials (n = 15) |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| n | NSAID | n | Placebo | n | NSAID | |
| Randomized, n | 1587 | 1553 | 1951 | |||
| Women, n (%) | 1587 | 1077 (67.9) | 1553 | 1085 (69.9) | 1951 | 1324 (67.9) |
| Age, mean (s.d.), years | 1587 | 62.7 (10.2) | 1552 | 62.7 (10.4) | 1951 | 62.5 (10.3) |
| Baseline pain (1–100 scale), mean (s.d.) | 1586 | 68.0 (17.9) | 1552 | 67.6 (18.0) | 1948 | 65.0 (20.2) |
| BMI, mean (s.d.), kg/m2 | 1545 | 29.6 (6.2) | 1516 | 29.7 (6.4) | 1717 | 29.6 (6.1) |
| Weight, mean (s.d.), kg | 1548 | 82.7 (19.4) | 1518 | 82.6 (19.6) | 1772 | 81.7 (19.1) |
| Inflammation (any) present, n (%) | 1269 | 300 (23.6) | 1238 | 271 (21.9) | 1407 | 306 (21.8) |
| Clinical inflammation present, n (%) | 836 | 152 (18.2) | 825 | 143 (17.3) | 974 | 158 (16.2) |
| Biochemical inflammation, n (%) per tertile | 1151 | 1117 | 1141 | |||
| Lowest tertile, n (%) | 494 (42.9) | 496 (44.4) | 494 (42.9) | |||
| Middle tertile, n (%) | 325 (28.2) | 300 (26.9) | 325 (28.2) | |||
| Highest tertile, n (%) | 332 (28.8) | 321 (28.7) | 332 (28.8) | |||
| Knee joint affected, n (%) | 1587 | 1187 (74.8) | 1553 | 1170 (75.3) | 1951 | 1,452 (74.4) |
| Hand joint affected, n (%) | 1587 | 400 (25.2) | 1553 | 383 (24.7) | ||
| Duration, median (IQR), months | 152 | 25 (12–60) | 152 | 27 (10–57) | 136 | 30 (12–60) |
| Standardized radiographic severity, mean (s.d.) | 1389 | 46.3 (15.2) | 1360 | 45.4 (15.2) | 184 | 45.4 (42.4) |
Clinical signs of inflammation: presence of swelling and warmth (one study), presence of effusion (four studies). Biochemical inflammation (divided into tertiles within each study with identical observations allocated to the same tertile rank): ESR (one study), CRP (two studies). Standardized radiographic severity (0–100) calculated within each study from Kellgren–Lawrence grade (0–4; seven studies), severity of changes (0–3; one study), number of changes (1–5; one study).