Figure 1. Patient selection and inclusion.
Outcomes
Baseline: There was not much differences in the baseline chracterstics between the two groups.
Primary Outcomes:
VAS pain score: VAS scores at 24 weeks were 2.97 and 2.88 in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of 0.09. Post hoc analysis was performed in a subgroup of patients whose VAS pain scores at baseline were 5 or higher. The overall mean VAS scores were 6.72±1.69 and 6.92±1.56 in the combined treatment and monotherapy groups, respectively, but there was no statistically significant difference (P=0.607).

Figure 2: Comparison of VAS scores between two groups.
WOMAC total score: WOMAC total scores at 24 weeks were 48.59 and 48.69 in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of −0.1.

Figure 3: Comparison of WOMAC total scores between two groups
Secondary Outcomes:
WOMAC Pain Score: WOMAC pain scores at 24 weeks were 12.02 and 11.76 in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of 0.26.
WOMAC stiffness score: WOMAC stiffness scores at 24 weeks were 3.85 and 4.16 in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of −0.32 .
WOMAC function score: WOMAC function scores at 24 weeks wer 32.74 and 32.74 in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of 0.01.
Minimal joint space width: JSWs at 24 weeks was 2.63 mm and 2.59 mm in the pCGS plus diacerein and glucosamine plus placebo groups. This indicated no significant difference between the two groups, with an estimated mean difference of 0.04 mm.