The effects of different antihypertensive drugs on pain and joint space width of knee osteoarthritis – A comparative study with data from Osteoarthritis Initiative

Hypertension was one common comorbidity of knee osteoarthritis (KOA), but the effect of different types of antihypertensive drugs on pain and joint space width (JSW) was unclear and not compared. Four hundred ninety KOA patients using one of the beta‐blockers, ACE inhibitors, angiotensin receptor blockers, Calcium channel blockers (CCBs), or thiazide diuretics were followed for four years. The blood pressure, cumulative knee replacement rate, Womac pain, and JSW were compared among groups. All data were from the Osteoarthritis Initiative project. The CCBs group has the highest systolic blood pressure, replacement rate, and pain score at most visit timepoints. At baseline, the CCBs group was with significantly higher pain score than the beta‐blockers group (3.3 vs 1.3, p < .05), the angiotensin receptor blockers group (3.3 vs 1.4, p < .05), and the thiazide diuretics group (3.3 vs 1.6, p < .05) in male; the CCBs group was with significantly higher pain score than the beta‐blockers group (3.8 vs 2.0, p < .01), and the angiotensin receptor blockers group (3.8 vs 2.2, p < .05) in female. The results of females at 36 months were similar to the baseline. Among the common antihypertensive drugs, CCBs were associated with high replacement rates, high pain scores, and less JSW in KOA patients.