Assessment of marhame-mafasel pomade effect on knee osteoarthritis with non-compliance.

BACKGROUND Osteoarthritis is the most prevalent chronic non-infective joint arthritis. In the present study, the effect of new herbal pomade (Marhame-Mafasel) on knee osteoarthritis was investigated in a randomized trial. The objective of this study was to assess efficacy of Marhame- Mafasel pomade, which was consisted of several medic herbs like Arnebia euchroma and Martricaria chamomilla in pri-mary osteoarthritis of the knee with non-compliance. METHODS The 2*2 crossover trial enrolled 42 osteoarthritis patients (Marhame-Mafasel versus pla-cebo) in 2006. The instrument of data collection was Western Ontario and McMaster Universities (WOMAC) LK3.1 standard questionnaires. We used conditional estimation to adjust non-compliance effect. RESULTS The participants in each group were 21 patients. About 30 (71.4%) were female. The partici-pants were between 40-76 years old. Positive analgesic effect of herbal pomade "Marhame-Mafasel" on knee osteoarthritis severity was considerable (P < 0.01). After adjusting results to compliance level, the estimators were sharper than crude results. CONCLUSION Herbal joint pomade "Marhame-Mafasel" has significant positive analgesic effect on pri-mary knee osteoarthritis.