Side Effects Concern Seniors

When given a choice ofarthritis treatment, seniorschose treatment with a low riskof side effects over effectiveness.In a study of 100 patientswith knee osteoarthritis (OA)who were asked to assess varioustreatment options, a pain-relievingcream garnered thebiggest response, even thoughit is less effective than othertreatments, researchers reportedrecently in the Archives ofInternal Medicine.

Arthritis treatment includesweight loss, prescription andOTC drugs, and surgery.The most commonly usedmedicines to treat knee OAinclude OTC pain relieversand nonsteroidal anti-inflammatorydrugs (NSAIDs).

For the current study, thepatients were asked to selectwhich arthritis treatment theywould choose if they had topay the full cost. Knowing thatthey would have to pay for themedication, >40% chose atopical cream with capsaicin.The patients only chose thenewer NSAIDs, however, whentold that they would be requiredto pay a small copay for treatmentand that the drugs were3 times more effective thancapsaicin.