The Long-Term Course of Outcomes for Lumbar Intervertebral Disc Herniation following Integrated Complementary and Alternative Medicine Inpatient Treatment: A Prospective Observational Study

Table 4

Long-term follow-up results.

Variables		%	Mean (SD)
Period from admission date to long-term follow-up (days)
Period from admission date to long-term follow-up (years)
Period from admission date to long-term follow-up (months)
Experience of surgery^a after discharge
No	337	91.83
Yes	29	7.90
Missing	1	0.27
Recommendation for surgery at another institution
No	157	42.78
Yes	201	54.77
Others	9	2.45
Previous recurred pain ≥ 1 month after discharge
No	240	65.40
Yes	121	32.97
Others	6	1.63
Current pain ≥ 3 months
No	280	76.29
Yes	87	23.71
Current treatment^b
None	268	73.02
CAM	48	13.08
Conventional treatment	36	9.81
CAM + conventional treatment	15	4.09
5-scale satisfaction level at discharge
Very satisfied	177	35.26
Satisfied	270	53.79
Slightly satisfied	47	9.36
Dissatisfied	7	1.39
Very dissatisfied	1	0.20
7-scale satisfaction level at long-term follow-up
Very satisfied	51	13.90
Satisfied	157	42.78
Slightly satisfied	108	29.43
No change	35	9.54
Slightly dissatisfied	13	3.54
Dissatisfied	—	—
Very dissatisfied	2	0.54
Missing	1	0.27

CAM, complementary and alternative medicine; ^aExperience of surgery referred to lumbar operations received between discharge and long-term follow-up; ^bcurrent treatment was assessed as treatments received within a week previous to long-term follow-up, and types were recategorized into CAM and conventional treatments.