Forty patients with active
rheumatoid arthritis were entered into a single-blind study of 12-weeks' duration to compare the efficacy and tolerance of 100 mg
sodium meclofenamate 3-times daily and 250 mg
naproxen twice daily. Disease activity was defined by the presence of a Ritchie Articular Index score of greater than 15. Patients were assessed at 4-week intervals. Analysis of variance of the data from those patients who completed 12 weeks in the trial showed that in the
sodium meclofenamate group there was a significant improvement in articular index, left grip strength,
pain severity and patients' global assessment over the course of the study. In the
naproxen group, there was a significant improvement in articular index, grip strength and
pain severity over the study. Pairwise comparisons showed that morning stiffness improved significantly from baseline to 12 weeks only, in both treatment groups. There were no significant differences between the two treatment groups for any of the measurements at any time period during the study. In the
sodium meclofenamate group, there were 4 drop-outs due to inadequate efficacy and 6 in the
naproxen group. Four patients in the
sodium meclofenamate group and 2 patients in the
naproxen group dropped out of the study because of side-effects, primarily
nausea. These results suggest that
sodium meclofenamate was equally well tolerated and as effective as
naproxen in the treatment of
rheumatoid arthritis in this group of patients.