Research Article
Standardized versus Individualized Acupuncture for Chronic Low Back Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Table 1
Baseline demographic and clinical characteristics of trial groups.
| | Characteristics | Standardized acupuncture
() | Individualized acupuncture
() |
| | Age (years; mean ± sd) | 59.3 ± 12.0 | 56.1 ± 12.9 | | Gender ( (%)) | | | | Female | 42 (53.8) | 45 (62.5) | | Male | 36 (46.2) | 27 (37.5) | | BMI (kg/m²; mean ± sd) | 27.2 ± 4.6 | 27.0 ± 5.0 | | >10 years of school ( (%)) | 10 (12.8) | 24 (33.3) | | Size of household ( (%)) | | | | Single person | 22 (28.2) | 16 (22.2) | | Multiperson | 55 (70.5) | 56 (77.7) | | Average low back pain during the previous 7 days (VAS; mean ± sd) | 60.7 ± 12.0 | 56.2 ± 10.0 | | Duration of low back pain (years; mean ± sd) | 16.8 ± 12.8 | 14.9 ± 11.8 | | Concomitant diseases ( (%)) | | | | Diseases of the nervous system | 0 (0) | 2 (2.7) | | Endocrine, nutritional, and metabolic diseases | 1 (1.2) | 3 (4.1) | | Diseases of musculoskeletal system | 12 (15.3) | 4 (5.5) | | Sick leave days of previous 8 weeks (days; mean ± sd) | 8.9 ± 14.8 | 8.2 ± 13.5 | | Prior consultation because of low back pain ( (%)) | 78 (100) | 69 (95.8) | | Low back pain/disability (HFAQ#; mean ± sd) | 36.0 ± 19.1 | 37.4 ± 20.4 | | SF-36 quality of life (SF-36#; mean ± sd) | | | | Physical health | 34.7 ± 7.7 | 35.7 ± 9.3 | | Mental health | 49.7 ± 11.1 | 46.2 ± 12.5 | | Experiences with acupuncture ( (%)) | 60 (76.9) | 56 (77.7) | | Expected effectiveness of acupuncture ( (%)) | | | | Very effective | 32 (41.0) | 24 (33.3) | | Effective | 41 (52.5) | 48 (66.6) | | Less effective | 4 (5.1) | 0 (0) | | Ineffective | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | | Preference ( (%))$ | | | | Standardized acupuncture | 30 (38.4) | 35 (48.6) | | Individualized acupuncture | 46 (58.9) | 37 (51.3) |
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BMI: body mass index; VAS: visual analogue scale for assessing the average low back pain intensity; HFAQ: Hannover Functional Ability Questionnaire; SF-36: 36-item quality-of-life questionnaire.
Lower values indicate better status.
#Higher values indicate better status.
$Missing answers add to 100%.
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