Traditional Chinese Herbal Patch for Short-Term Management of Knee Osteoarthritis: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial

Table 2

Baseline characteristics of the study participants.

Variable	Placebo (𝑛=30)	FNZG(𝑛=60)	SIG (𝑛=59)	Total (𝑛=149)
Demographics
Han Chinese, no.(%)	30(100)	60(100)	59(100)	149(100)
Women, no.(%)	27(90)	53(88)	56(95)	136(91)
Age, years	60.4±8.0	58.5±7.7	59.6±6.1	59.3±7.1
Body mass index, kg/m^2	23.4±2.7	23.5±3.1	23.7±2.7	23.5±2.9
Disease condition
Duration of knee pain (on study knee), years*	4.6±3.0	5.1±4.1	3.5±3.0	4.4±3.5
Patient VAS (study knee; range 0–100 mm)	53.3±15.2	51.7±15.0	52.5±14.7	52.3±14.8
WOMAC pain (range 0–20)	10.6±4.6	9.2±4.3	9.3±3.6	9.5±4.1
WOMAC stiffness (range 0–8)	3.6±1.9	3.3±1.9	3.4±1.9	3.4±1.9
WOMAC physical function (range 0–68)	28.3±16.0	23.9±14.6	25.9±13.8	25.5±14.6
WOMAC total score (range 0–96)	42.5±22.0	36.3±20.1	38.5±18.2	38.4±19.8
Investigator TCMSQ subscale
Swelling (range 0–6)	2.7±1.7	2.47±1.1	2.14±1.4	2.4±1.3
Range of motion (range 0–6)	2.8±1.1	2.87±1.1	2.78±1.3	2.8±1.2
Fatigue in the region of waist and knee muscles (range 0–6)	3.5±1.5	3.40±1.2	3.22±1.3	3.4±1.3
Fear of coldness (range 0–6)	3.9±1.3	3.92±1.4	3.83±1.4	3.9±1.4
Self-reported comorbidities, no. (%)
Heart disease	0 (0)	3 (5)	1 (2)	4 (3)
Hypertension	6 (20)	9 (15)	9 (15)	24 (16)
Diabetes	1(3)	3(5)	2(3)	6(4)

Values are the mean ±SD or the number (percentage). P values were calculated by one-factor analysis of variance (ANOVA). VAS: visual analog scale; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index; TCMSQ: Traditional Chinese Medicine Syndrome Questionnaire. *𝑃=0.046.