[Individual variation in the response to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents]

A study of individual response factors to the anti-inflammatory drug Diclofenac, as carried out in 3,123 patients, selected by 200 french rheumatism specialists. The efficacy was evaluated with a visual analogous scale and the patients were classified by the quartile method into 4 types of responses: for 3 patients out of 4, the response is better than 5/10 and for 1 in every 2 patients, better than 7/10. Among the 24 factors that were tested concerning the efficacy, 14 could significantly predict this efficacy. Then, correspondance analyses have enabled to grade the relative role of these prognostic factors. 4 of them seem to have a prevailing role: the number of previous treatments with non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs, the duration of the disease, the diagnosis and finally, the finding of psychic disorders before treatment. It is suggested that the result of a treatment with non steroid anti-inflammatory drugs is not a variable phenomenon and that some prognostic factors could be taken into account in therapeutic trials.