The Role of Knowledge and Attitudes About Nonsteroidal Anti‐inflammatory Drugs in Determining Treatment Use

OBJECTIVE: The objective of this study was to evaluate how patient knowledge and beliefs regarding nonsteroidal anti‐inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may influence the use of NSAIDs for osteoarthritis (OA). METHODS: Surveys of 334 adults with knee and/or hip OA were analyzed in this cross‐sectional study. Familiarity with and perceptions of benefits/risks of NSAID use were measured to assess associations with the use of prescription and nonprescription oral NSAIDs. Multinomial logistic regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic and clinical variables. RESULTS: In this sample, 35.9% and 35.6% reported use of oral prescription and nonprescription‐only NSAIDs, respectively. Hispanic participants, compared with non‐Hispanic White participants, had lower perceived benefit (P = 0.005) and risk (P = 0.001) of prescription NSAIDs. The following were associated with prescription NSAID use instead of no NSAID use: having family/friends who used prescription (relative risk ratio [RRR] 3.91; 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.05‐7.47) and over‐the‐counter (OTC) (RRR 3.10; 95% CI 1.65‐5.83) NSAIDs for OA, understanding the consequences of using both prescription (RRR 3.50; 95% CI 1.79‐6.86) and OTC (RRR 2.80; 95% CI 1.39‐5.65) NSAIDs, higher perceived benefit of both prescription (RRR 2.51; 95% CI 1.71‐3.66) and OTC (RRR 1.44; 95% CI 1.01‐2.06) NSAIDs, and lower perceived risk of both types of NSAIDs (prescription: RRR 0.63 [95% CI 0.46‐0.87]; OTC: RRR 0.53 [95% CI 0.37‐0.75]). Similar results were found when we assessed the relationship between these variables and OTC NSAID use versus no oral NSAID use. CONCLUSION: Adults with knee and/or hip OA were more likely to use NSAIDs if they were more familiar with, had an increased perceived benefit of, and had a decreased perceived risk of these drugs. Patients’ perceptions and beliefs about NSAIDs should be evaluated when considering them for treatment.