Study Casts Doubt on Effectiveness of Osteoarthritis Treatments

A new study from Lund University in Sweden highlights the challenges in clinical studies on osteoarthritis treatments. Patients with osteoarthritis often undergo variations in their level of pain, which can complicate the interpretation of results. The study found that much of the apparent treatment effect is just an illusion due to natural variation, and researchers need to take regression to the mean into account. To determine whether a treatment is effective or not, there must be an adequate control group that receives a placebo, and the treatment is randomly allocated.