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Current Pain and Headache Reports
Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports 6/2011

01-12-2011 | Pain Aspects of Arthritis (Allison Bailey, Section Editor)

Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis: an Overview of Systematic Reviews

Authors: Edzard Ernst, Paul Posadzki

Published in: Current Pain and Headache Reports | Issue 6/2011

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Abstract

This review critically evaluates the literature on complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as treatment options for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Design: Electronic databases were searched to identify all relevant systematic reviews of the effectiveness of CAM in rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis published between January 2010 and January 2011. Reviews were defined as systematic if they included explicit and repeatable inclusion and exclusion criteria for studies. Their methodological quality was assessed using the Oxman criteria for systematic reviews. Results: Five systematic reviews met our inclusion criteria. They all arrived at cautious conclusions. Four reviews were of high quality and one was burdened with high risk of bias. The evidence to support the effectiveness of CAM as a treatment option for rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis is ambiguous.
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Metadata
Title
Complementary and Alternative Medicine for Rheumatoid Arthritis and Osteoarthritis: an Overview of Systematic Reviews
Authors
Edzard Ernst
Paul Posadzki
Publication date
01-12-2011
Publisher
Current Science Inc.
Published in
Current Pain and Headache Reports / Issue 6/2011
Print ISSN: 1531-3433
Electronic ISSN: 1534-3081
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s11916-011-0227-x

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