Integrative TCM Conservative Therapy for Low Back Pain due to Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Randomized Controlled Clinical Trial

Table 1

Baseline characteristics of the study participants*.

Variable	Experimental group; (𝑁=306)	Control group; (𝑁=102)
Sex: no. of patients (%)
Male (%)	147 (48.0)	53 (52.0)
Female (%)	159 (52.0)	49 (48.0)
Age (years)	45.91 ± 10.73	43.58 ± 12.10
Stage of the disease§: no. of patients (%)
Acute stage (0~14 days)	109 (35.6)	38 (37.3)
Subacute stage (15~30 days)	101 (33.0)	32 (31.4)
Chronic stage (>30 days)	96 (31.4)	32 (31.4)
Segments of lumbar disc herniation^&: no. of patients (%)
One segment (L3/L4 or L4/L5 or L5/S1)	61 (19.9)	19 (18.6)
Two segments (L3/L4 and L4/L5 or L4/L5 and L5/S1)	196 (64.1)	67 (65.7)
Three segments (L3/L4 and L4/L5 and L5/S1)	49 (16.0)	16 (15.7)
VAS scores^# (0~100)	53.94 ± 19.60	56.00 ± 19.61
C-SFODI^† (0~100%)	46.07 ± 20.56	49.59 ± 22.53

∗Plus-minus values are means ± SD unless otherwise noted.
§Stage of the disease is divided according to duration of the low back pain symptoms first appeared of this time, acute stage (0~14 days), subacute stage (15~30 days), and chronic stage (>30 days).
^#Visual analogue scale (VAS, range 0 to 100) with higher scores indicating greater pain.
^&Based on imaging examination to determine the segments of lumbar disc herniation; L3/L4 means disc herniation between the third and fourth lumbar, and the others are the same.
^†The Chinese Short Form Oswestry Disability Index (C-SFODI, range 0 to 100%) consists of 9 questions. A higher percentage indicates a more severe functional disability.