Efficacy and Safety of a Chinese Herbal Medicine Formula (RCM-104) in the Management of Simple Obesity: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial

Table 2

Weight-related symptoms and how much they bother you.

Symptoms	Study period	RCM-104 (𝑛=48)^# value ± SD	Placebo (𝑛=42) value ± SD	𝑃 value**
Shortness of breath	Baseline	1.2±1.27	1.1±1.23
	Final	0.6±0.92	1.2±1.21
	𝑃 value*	0.001	0.760	0.002
Sensitivity to cold	Baseline	1.0±1.57	0.8±1.12
	Final	0.5±0.92	0.9±1.23
	𝑃 value*	0.008	0.628	0.011
Leakage of urine	Baseline	0.4±1.09	0.4±0.73
	Final	0.4±0.91	0.8±0.93
	𝑃 value*	0.521	0.005	0.005
Increased sweating	Baseline	0.9±1.56	0.7±1.20
	Final	0.5±1.11	0.8±1.15
	𝑃 value*	0.030	0.547	0.057
Decreased physical stamina	Baseline	1.6±1.91	1.2±1.54
	Final	0.7±1.23	1.1±1.53
	𝑃 value*	0.001	0.660	0.049
Joint pain	Baseline	1.5±1.62	1.8±1.83
	Final	0.8±1.18	1.6±1.56
	𝑃 value*	0.003	0.748	0.007

Weight-Related Symptom Measure (WRSM) is 7-point scaled: 0 = not at all; 1 = hardly; 2 = somewhat; 3 = moderately; 4 = a good deal; 5 = a great deal; 6 = a very great deal.
*Comparison within the group between baseline and final visits using Wilcoxon-signed rank test.
**Comparison between groups at the end of trial.
For the above, the 𝑃 values were assessed using Holm’s step-down procedure, with 𝛼=0.05/20=0.0025 for assessing the smallest 𝑃 value, 𝛼=0.05/19=0.0026 for the next smallest 𝑃 value, and so forth. Significant 𝑃 values are indicated in bold [30]. Note: only results for symptoms showing small 𝑃 values are displayed.
^#Sample size for treatment group reduced from 50 to 48 as Quality of Life data were unavailable for two participants.