Good Life with osteoArthritis in Denmark (GLA:D™): evidence-based education and supervised neuromuscular exercise delivered by certified physiotherapists nationwide

Table 4 Patients taking painkillers and being on sick leave at baseline and follow up^a

Baseline to 3 months
Outcome	Joint	Baseline status	Yes at 3 months	No at 3 months
Painkillers due to knee/hip?	Knee (n = 4,023)	Yes at baseline (n = 2,250)	1,162	1,088
		No at baseline (n = 1,773)	315	1,458
		Risk of taking painkillers at baseline (95% CI)	55.9% (54.4–57.5)
		Risk of taking painkillers at 3 months (95% CI)	36.7% (35.2–28.2)
	Hip (n = 1,385)	Yes at baseline (n = 804)	472	332
		No at baseline (n = 581)	147	434
		Risk of taking painkillers at baseline (95% CI)	58.1% (55.5–60.7)
		Risk of taking painkillers at 3 months (95% CI)	44.7% (42.1–47.3)
Baseline to 12 months
Outcome	Joint	Baseline status	Yes at 12 months	No at 12 months
Sick leave due to knee/hip?*	Knee and hip (n = 711)	Yes at baseline (n = 173)	53	120
		No at baseline (n = 538)	53	485
		Risk of being at sick leave at baseline (95% CI)	24.3% (21.2–27.5)
		Risk of being at sick leave at 12 months (95% CI)	14.9% (12.3–17.5)

^a Painkillers were defined as acetaminophen, NSAIDs or opioids/opioid-like painkillers; only patients associated with the labour market (excluding old-age pensioners and people on early retirement pension or disability pension) were included in the analysis of sick leave. The risk of taking pain killers at 3 months and the risk of being on sick leave at 12 months were significantly lower than the corresponding risks at baseline (P < 0.0001) for patients with knee and hip OA, respectively

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