Gastrointestinal tolerability of NSAIDs in elderly patients: a pooled analysis of 21 randomized clinical trials with celecoxib and nonselective NSAIDs

Background: Gastrointestinal (GI) tolerability is an important treatment consideration for physicians when choosing a nonselective nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) for their elderly arthritis patients. The objective of this study was to compare the GI tolerability of the cyclooxygenase-2 selective NSAID celecoxib and nonselective NSAIDs in elderly patients with arthritis aged 65 years or older. Methods: This was a retrospective, pooled analysis of patients aged 65 years or older with osteoarthritis (OA), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or ankylosing spondylitis (AS) from randomized, parallel-group trials. Selected trials had a duration of >= 2 weeks and at least one celecoxib 200-400 mg/day and one nonselective NSAID (naproxen, ibuprofen, or diclofenac) arm. Patient-level data from the safety populations of the trials were pooled. Analysis included the combined incidence of the GI intolerability adverse events (AEs) (abdominal pain, constipation, diarrhea, dyspepsia, flatulence, nausea) and incidence and time to trial discontinuation due to these intolerability AEs. Results: A total of 21 trials were selected involving 9461 elderly patients (mean age 71.9 years). Of these, 5872 received celecoxib, 1104 naproxen, 151 ibuprofen, and 2334 diclofenac. The combined incidence of GI intolerability AEs were reported by significantly fewer patients treated with celecoxib (16.7%) than naproxen (29.4%; p<0.0001), ibuprofen (26.5%; p=0.0016), or diclofenac (21.0%; p<0.0001). The discontinuation rate due to GI intolerability AEs was significantly lower for celecoxib (4.0%) versus naproxen (8.1%; p<0.0001) and ibuprofen (7.3%; p<0.05), but not diclofenac (4.2%; p=0.75). Conclusions: Among elderly arthritis patients, the incidence of GI intolerability AEs was lower with celecoxib than with naproxen, ibuprofen, or diclofenac. Fewer elderly patients discontinued due to GI intolerability AEs with celecoxib than with either naproxen or ibuprofen.