The COX-2 inhibitor etoricoxib and the older agent naproxen are both safe and effective for the treatment of arthritis, according to a report in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

Dr. Sean P. Curtis, of Merck Research Laboratories, Rahway, New Jersey, and colleagues studied etoricoxib at 60 milligrams once-daily versus naproxen 500 milligrams twice-daily over a 138-week period in patients with arthritis at 80 clinical centers in 19 countries. Nearly 1,000 patients were included in the study.

Etoricoxib and naproxen were comparable in their ability to reduce pain throughout the entire study period, the report indicates.

Both treatments were generally well tolerated and the side effects seen with each were similar. Still, more naproxen-treated patients were likely to discontinue the drug due to side effects than patients in the etoricoxib group.

“Regardless of treatment group, the most common (side effects) in the three study periods overall were upper respiratory infection and (high blood pressure),” they report.

The investigators also note that the study was not designed to compare the risk of gastrointestinal or heart side effects with each drug.

SOURCE: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases, July 2007.