Multicenter Study in Efficacy and Safety of Celecoxib in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis / 대한류마티스학회지

ABSTRACT

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to define the efficacy and safety of celecoxib in Korean patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. In addition, the impact of gastrointestinal symptom severity on health related quality of life (HRQoL) was measured before and after the treatment with celecoxib. METHODS: Three hundred seventy nine patients with rheumatoid arthritis (n=175) and osteoarthritis (n=204) were enrolled from 25 centers from May 2004 to December 2004. After treatment of celecoxib for 4 weeks, efficacy was determined by physician's global assessment and EQ-5D. Severity of gastrointestinal (GI) symptom was assessed by visual analogue scale. RESULTS: Treatment made improvement in 263 patients (69.4%), but 108 patients (28.5%) didn't show change in their symptom and 8 patients (2.1%) were aggravated after treatment. Mean change was 0.129+/-0.3 in EQ-5D utility score (p<0.05), 11.8+/-17.8 in VAS in EQ-5D (p<0.05) and -7.9+/-19.6 in GI symptom severity (p<0.05). Blood pressure was not elevated after treatment and there was no cardiovascular adverse event. Gastrointestinal symptom improvement correlates with improvement in VAS (r=0.2, p<0.01). CONCLUSION: Celecoxib is not only effective in patients with rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis but also helpful in reducing GI symptom.