NEW YORK (Reuters Health) ¿ People who use two or more non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to help control pain have a worse health-related quality of life than their peers who use only one, results of a study suggest. "Patients may self-manage their pain to improve their daily activities by taking more than one NSAID. However, by attempting to obtain symptom relief, patients may be putting themselves at risk for complications," Dr. Stacey H. Kovac, from the Durham VA Medical Center in North Carolina, and colleagues note in the medical journal Arthritis Care and Research.

Prior research has established a strong link between multiple NSAID use and gastrointestinal problems, but it was unclear if this practice affected health-related quality-of-life.