Evaluation of analgesic action and efficacy of antirheumatic drugs. Study of 10 drugs in 684 patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

A single-blind non-crossover method for assessing the potential effectiveness of antirheumatic drugs has been described. The method employs entirely subjective indices and incorporates a daily pain chart for measuring the pain response over the duration of the trial. In addition, the mean number of days withdrawn and patients' satisfaction rating are measured. The statistical method can correct for initial imbalances between groups and allows for the valid comparison of drugs from separate trials. Ten antirheumatic medications were evaluated using this technique in 684 patients with rheumatoid arthritis, and the results are in agreement with those of previous studies using standard clinical methods. The new method is simple, rapid in performance, economical in terms of cost and time, and has been shown to be sensitive and reproducible. The results indicate that there are no significant differences in efficacy between the currently available non-steroidal, anti-inflammatory analgesic drugs, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis.