Antidepressants ineffectual for back pain and osteoarthritis

Most clinical practice guidelines recommend antidepressants for long term (chronic) back pain

and hip and knee osteoarthritis

Antidepressants ineffectual for back pain and osteoarthritis

Most clinical practice guidelines recommend antidepressants for long term (chronic) back pain

and hip and knee osteoarthritis

A study published by the British Medical Journal (BMJ) provides evidence that stimulant

medications are generally inadequate for back and osteoarthritis pain, despite being broadly

utilized for these conditions.

The findings, based on moderate certainty evidence, show that for people with back pain the

effects were too small to be worthwhile, but for osteoarthritis, a small beneficial effect cannot

be ruled out.

Most clinical practice guidelines recommend antidepressants for long term (chronic) back pain

and hip and knee osteoarthritis, yet evidence supporting their use is uncertain.

To address this knowledge gap, researchers led by Giovanni Ferreira at the University of

Sydney set out to investigate the effectiveness and safety of antidepressants for back and

osteoarthritis pain compared with placebo.

Their findings are based on analysis of published data from 33 randomised controlled trials

involving more than 5,000 adults with low back or neck pain, sciatica, or hip or knee

osteoarthritis.

The trials were designed differently and were of varying quality, but the researchers were able

to allow for this in their analysis. Most of the data came from industry-sponsored trials.

The researchers set a difference of 10 points on a 0 to 100 point scale for pain or disability as

the smallest worthwhile difference between groups - a threshold commonly used in other

studies of chronic pain.

https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/health/antidepressants-ineffectual-for-back-pain-andosteoarthritis-

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