Enomoto H, et al. - In this post hoc analysis of a Japanese phase 3 randomized study, researchers examined how changes in pain severity and changes in health-related quality of life (HRQoL) are correlated in patients treated with duloxetine for knee osteoarthritis (OA). Duloxetine 60 mg/day or placebo was provided for 14 weeks to patients with knee OA and Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) average pain score ≥ 4. Duloxetine (n = 177) vs placebo (n = 176) led to a significantly greater improvement in BPI average pain severity score and significantly greater improvements in 5 of the 8 SF-36 (36-item Short-Form Health Survey; a generic measure of HRQoL) domains (including the Role-Physical, Bodily Pain, and Physical Functioning domains) and all 24 individual Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC; an OA-specific measure of HRQoL) items. Outcomes thereby suggest that in duloxetine-treated patients with knee OA, the pain decrease was correlated with improvements in OA-specific aspects of HRQoL, ie, pain and physical functioning.