Paracetamol is ineffective when it comes to the treatment of lower back pain and offers limited benefits to sufferers of osteoarthritis, a new study suggests.

Around 10% of the world's population will experience back pain at some point in their lives and according to the World Health Organization (WHO), it is the leading cause of disability globally.

Osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis. Symptoms include pain, stiffness and swelling in the joints and most Irish people over the age of 55 have evidence of the condition at some joint in their body. It is also a major cause of disability worldwide.

According to clinical guidelines, paracetamol is the recommended first-line drug treatment for both of these conditions. However, the evidence to support this recommendation is weak and a recent decision by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) to continue to recommend the drug in the treatment of osteoarthritis has proven controversial.

Australian researchers decided to look into this further. They carried out a major review of 13 trials, which examined the safety and efficacy of paracetamol in the treatment of low back pain, and knee and hip osteoarthritis.

The 13 trials included over 5,300 people who were given either paracetamol or a placebo.

The study found that when it came to low back pain, the drug had no effect. It did not reduce disability or lead to an improvement in quality of life.

When it came to osteoarthritis, the benefits were negligible. In other words, there was a small improvement, but it was not considered clinically important.

Furthermore, people with osteoarthritis who used the drug were more likely to record abnormal results on liver function tests, although the clinical relevance of this is unclear, the researchers said.

They pointed out that the follow-up in the trials was just six months and said more research into the long-term effects of using paracetamol is needed.

However, they believe that these findings ‘support the reconsideration of recommendations to use paracetamol for patients with low back pain and osteoarthritis of the hip or knee in clinical practice guidelines'.

Details of these findings are published in the British Medical Journal.