Summary of characteristics of included studies
| Total | Chondroitin | Glucosamine | Chondroitin + glucosamine | Paracetamol | NSAIDs | Topical NSAIDs | PEMF | Acupuncture | IACS | IAHA | Joint lavage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of trials | 215 | 13 | 21 | 5 | 7 | 63 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 10 | 36 | 4 |
| No. of participants | 41 392 | 2546 | 2869 | 1055 | 2345 | 18 617 | 4400 | 1002 | 2723 | 612 | 4796 | 427 |
| Median age (IQR), years | 62.2 (60.0 to 64.2) | 63.0 (60.0 to 65.0) | 61.7 (58.3 to 64.5) | 58.6 (56.7 to 67.6) | 62.6 (61.9 to 64.1) | 61.6 (60.1 to 62.6) | 63.2 (61.5 to 65.3) | 61.6 (59.6 to 63.9) | 64.8 (62.8 to 67.0) | 64.9 (63.2 to 66.0) | 62.6 (59.5 to 64.6) | 57.1 (54.0 to 60.7) |
| Median percentage of women (IQR), % | 65.8 (60.0 to 72.8) | 65.9 (55.8 to 72.1) | 64.4 (60.3 to 81.3) | 82.5 (70.8 to 88.2) | 66.9 (64.5 to 74.8) | 66.8 (62.9 to 71.0) | 65.0 (61.6 to 74.5) | 71.6 (61.8 to 90.2) | 65.0 (61.0 to 69.1) | 67.5 (61.7 to 71.4) | 61.0 (51.3 to 70.1) | 58.7 (29.9 to 67.2) |
| Median years of symptom (IQR) | 6.8 (5.0 to 8.7) | 6.6 (6.4 to 6.8) | 9.2 (7.1 to 12.0) | 7.8 (5.5 to 10.0) | 7.8 (5.3 to 8.7) | 7.2 (5.4 to 8.8) | 7.4 (3.6 to 10.8) | 6.0 (3.6 to 8.2) | 7.0 (6.5 to 7.5) | 7.6 (6.0 to 9.3) | 4.8 (2.7 to 6.2) | 10.4 (–) |
| Pooled baseline pain (95% CI) in 0–100 scale | 54.8 (50.8 to 58.9) | 57.2 (48.9 to 65.5) | 51.4 (39.8 to 63.0) | 42.8 (25.8 to 59.9) | 49.7 (33.9 to 65.5) | 56.1 (46.8 to 65.3) | 59.7 (53.8 to 65.5) | 55.4 (47.3 to 63.5) | 41.4 (34.8 to 47.9) | 60.0 (46.6 to 73.3) | 56.4 (52.0 to 60.8) | 65.4 (43.3 to 87.4) |
| Median duration of trial (IQR), weeks | 12 (4 to 13) | 26 (13 to 52) | 12 (7 to 24) | 16 (12 to 24) | 6 (6 to 12) | 6 (4 to 12) | 4 (2 to 12) | 6 (3 to 10) | 9 (4 to 13) | 9 (3 to 12) | 16 (9 to 26) | 52 (38 to 78) |
| Quality of included studies | ||||||||||||
| Randomisation | 122 | 9 | 15 | 3 | 2 | 24 | 19 | 12 | 12 | 4 | 18 | 4 |
| Allocation concealment | 96 | 8 | 11 | 3 | 1 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 9 | 2 | 14 | 3 |
| Blinding to participants | 199 | 13 | 20 | 5 | 7 | 61 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 9 | 30 | 3 |
| Intent to treat analysis | 141 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 7 | 45 | 19 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 22 | 2 |
IACS, intra-articular corticosteroid; IAHA, intra-articular hyaluronic acid; NSAIDs, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs; PEMF, pulsed electromagnetic field therapy.