Objectifying Specific and Nonspecific Effects of Acupuncture: A Double-Blinded Randomised Trial in Osteoarthritis of the Knee
Table 2
Patient characteristics.
Characteristic
Total sample
CA as first treatment
MA as first treatment
NA as first treatment
value
116
40
37
39
Gender male (percent)
38 (33%)
8 (20%)
17 (46%)
13 (33%)
0.053
Age (years)
62.4
62.7
61.6
62.9
0.79
Kellgren Grade III (percent)
57 (49%)
22 (55%)
17 (46%)
18 (46%)
0.66
Left knee (percent)
54 (47%)
17 (43%)
20 (54%)
17 (44%)
0.54
Duration of pain (years)
4.7
4.9
5.3
3.9
0.50
Premedication (percent)
39 (34%)
13 (33%)
13 (35%)
13 (33%)
0.96
CA: classical acupuncture; MA: semistandardised modern acupuncture; NA: nonspecific needling. Columns describe the first treatment. All patients subsequently received the two remaining treatment modalities.
