Investigation of the association of long-term NSAID use with radiographic hip osteoarthritis over four to five years: Data from the OAI and CHECK studies.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the relationship between long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and the incidence and progression of radiographic hip osteoarthritis (RHOA), as well as the degeneration of individual radiographic features.

METHODS

We analyzed data from the Osteoarthritis Initiative (OAI) and the Cohort Hip and Cohort Knee (CHECK) study. Our exposure was the number of years of NSAID use over a 4-to-5-year follow-up period. Our outcomes were the incidence and progression of RHOA over a 4-to-5-year follow-up as assessed using a modified Croft grade in OAI and the Kellgren-Lawrence (K/L) grade in CHECK. The incidence of RHOA was defined as having RHOA (grade ≥2) at follow-up and investigated in "incidence cohorts" of hips without RHOA at baseline (grade <2). The progression of RHOA was defined as an increase of ≥1 grade at follow-up from baseline and investigated in "progression cohorts" of hips with RHOA at baseline (grade ≥2). Additionally, we assessed the degeneration of nine specific radiographic features, such as joint space narrowing and osteophytes, defined by a grade increase of ≥1 ​at follow-up from baseline, in all cohorts.

RESULTS

In the incidence cohorts, there were 5153 hips in OAI and 1011 in CHECK; in the progression cohorts, there were 285 and 106 hips, respectively. There was no association between NSAID use and the outcomes investigated.

CONCLUSION

Over 4-to-5 years, long-term NSAID use showed no association with the incidence or progression of RHOA, or with the degeneration of individual radiographic features.