Jennifer A E Williams, Mae Chester-Jones, Catherine Minns Lowe, Megan V Goff, Anne Francis, Gretchen Brewer, Ioana Marian, Susan L Morris, Debbie Warwick, Lucy Eldridge, Patrick Julier, Malvika Gulati, Karen L Barker, Vicki S Barber, Joanna Black, Sue Woollacott, Charles Mackworth-Young, Vicki Glover, Sarah E Lamb, Tonia L Vincent, Katy Vincent, Susan J Dutton, Fiona E Watt
BACKGROUND: Symptomatic hand osteoarthritis is more common in women than in men, and its incidence increases around the age of menopause, implicating oestrogen deficiency. No randomised controlled trials of hormone replacement therapy (HRT) have been done in people with hand osteoarthritis. We aimed to determine the feasibility and acceptability of a form of HRT (conjugated oestrogens plus bazedoxifene) in post-menopausal women with painful hand osteoarthritis. METHODS: The HOPE-e feasibility study was a randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial, for which we recruited women aged 40-65 years, for whom 1-10 years had passed after their final menstrual period, with definite hand osteoarthritis and at least two painful hand joints...
October 2022: Lancet Rheumatology