Effects of glucosamine, chondroitin, or placebo in patients with osteoarthritis of hip or knee: network meta-analysis

Simon Wandel, research fellow1 2,
Peter Jüni, professor and head of division1 2,
Britta Tendal, research fellow3,
Eveline Nüesch, research fellow1 2,
Peter M Villiger, director4,
Nicky J Welton, senior research fellow5,
Stephan Reichenbach, senior research fellow1 4,
Sven Trelle, senior research fellow1 2

+ Author Affiliations

¹Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland
²CTU Bern, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland
³Nordic Cochrane Centre, Righospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark
⁴Department of Rheumatology, Clinical Immunology, and Allergology, Bern University Hospital, Switzerland
⁵Academic Unit of Primary Health Care, Department of Community Based Medicine, University of Bristol, Bristol, United Kingdom

Correspondence to: P Jüni, Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland juni@ispm.unibe.ch

BMJ 2010; 341:c4675

Conclusions Compared with placebo, glucosamine, chondroitin, and their combination do not reduce joint pain or have an impact on narrowing of joint space. Health authorities and health insurers should not cover the costs of these preparations, and new prescriptions to patients who have not received treatment should be discouraged.

Full text: http://www.bmj.com/content/341/bmj.c4675.full

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