title: Concomitant therapy: an outcome variable for musculoskeletal disorders? Part 2: total joint replacement in osteoarthritis trials.
abstract: Interest has grown in using the requirement of total joint replacement (TJR) as a "hard" outcome measure. Limitations exist, however, in the use of such an outcome, in particular the variability in the decision to perform surgery, length of surgical waiting lists, and sensitivity to change. This special interest group is exploring ways of retaining the clinical relevance of TJR but overcoming the problems--2 alternative outcomes are being considered: "time to physician's decision to recommend surgery" and "time to fulfilling criteria for total joint replacement."
authors.affiliation: Dijon University Hospital and INSERM/ERIT-M 0204, University of Burgundy, Dijon, France. jean-francis.maillefert@chu-dijon.fr
authors.forename: Jean-Francis
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Maillefert
authors.forename: Gillian A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Hawker
authors.forename: Laure
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Gossec
authors.forename: Nizar N
authors.initials: NN
authors.lastname: Mahomed
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lohmander
authors.forename: Paul A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Dieppe
authors.forename: Gustavo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Zanoli
authors.forename: Marc C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Hochberg
authors.forename: Maxime
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Dougados
mesh_terms: D019643:Arthroplasty, Replacement; D006801:Humans; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010003:Osteoarthritis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000601:surgery*; D017063:Outcome Assessment, Health Care; D016032:Randomized Controlled Trials as Topic; D016879:Salvage Therapy; D017211:Treatment Failure