Assessment of salsalate, a nonacetylated salicylate, in the treatment of patients with arthritis.

This study evaluated physicians' use of the occurrence of tinnitus as a tool to establish the optimal dosage of salsalate, a nonacetylated salicylate, in patients with arthritis treated in routine clinical practice. The use of printed educational materials to improve compliance was also studied prospectively. A total of 782 patients were enrolled in this 3-week study by 95 general practitioners in an office setting. Of the 771 assessable patients, 90.0% had osteoarthritis, 9.7% had rheumatoid arthritis, and 0.3% had both types of arthritis. Most patients experienced improvement of symptoms after 3 weeks of treatment. There were no differences in the rates of improvement at the first and third weeks of treatment between patients with osteoarthritis and patients with rheumatoid arthritis. In addition, duration of arthritis had no effect on rates of improvement. Rates of patient satisfaction tended to increase over the study period. Rates of patient satisfaction did not differ significantly at the first and third weeks between patients who did not receive printed educational materials and whose who did not. Treatment was discontinued in 234 patients (30.4%) because of side effects. The most frequent reasons for discontinuation were gastrointestinal symptoms (n = 102; 13.2%) and tinnitus (n = 52; 6.7%). The clinical effectiveness and safety of salsalate were confirmed in patients with arthritis in routine clinical practice settings.