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Table 2 Primary and secondary outcome measurements of intention-to-treat analysis during the entire study

From: Effects of intensity of electroacupuncture on chronic pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis: a randomized controlled trial

Outcome Strong EA Weak EA Sham EA Pairwise comparison
Strong EA vs. sham EA Weak EA vs. sham EA Strong EA vs. weak EA
Effect size (95% CI) P value Effect size (95% CI) P value Effect size (95% CI) P value
Primary outcome
 CPM, mean (SD)a
  Weeks 0–1 0.64 (0.16) 0.12 (0.27) 0.44 (0.24) 0 (0 to 0) .33 0 (− 0.31 to 0.32) 0.98 0.15 (− 0.13 to 0.42) .29
  Weeks 0–2 14.85 (0.16) 4.75 (0.28) 1.43 (0.24) 13.54 (13.23 to 13.85) < .01 3.80 (3.45 to 4.15) < .01 9.73 (9.44 to 10.02) < .01
 VAS, mean (SD)b
  Weeks 0–1 − 1.34 (0.10) − 1.52 (0.14) 0.65 (0.14) − 0.58 (− 0.71 to − 0.44) < .01 − 0.77 (− 0.93 to − 0.62) < .01 0.19 (0.04 to 0.35) .01
  Weeks 0–2 − 2.97 (0.10) − 2.75 (0.15) 1.19 (0.14) − 1.58 (− 1.75 to − 1.4) < .01 − 1.36 (− 1.57 to − 1.16) < .01 − 0.22 (− 0.42 to − 0.03) .03
 WOMAC, mean (SD)c
  Weeks 0–1 − 13.03 (0.56) − 13.06 (0.87) − 3.47 (0.80) − 9.35 (− 10.75 to − 7.96) < .01 − 9.66 (− 11.26 to − 8.07) < .01 0.18 (− 1.23 to 1.59) .80
  Weeks 0–2 − 20.92 (0.56) − 20.55 (0.89) − 8.87 (0.81) − 11.70 (− 12.52 to − 10.89) < .01 − 11.55 (− 12.52 to − 10.58) < .01 − 0.15 (− 1.06 to 0.75) .74
Secondary outcome
 NPRS, mean (SD)c
  Weeks 0–1 − 1.59 (0.10) 1.12 (0.14) 0.72 (0.14) − 0.93 (− 1.1 to − 0.76) < .01 − 0.69 (− 0.9 to − 0.49) < .01 − 0.11 (− 0.3 to − 0.07) .24
  Weeks 0–2 − 2.97 (0.11) 2.48 (0.14) 1.40 (0.14) − 1.55 (− 1.76 to − 1.33) < .01 − 1.07 (− 1.31 to − 0.83) < .01 − 0.47 (− 0.7 to − 0.24) < .01
 ES, mean (SD)c
  Weeks 0–1 − 1.69 (0.12) − 1.36 (0.16) 0.71 (0.13) − 0.91 (− 1.09 to − 0.73) < .01 − 0.67 (− 0.88 to − 0.45) < .01 − 0.3 (− 0.5 to − 0.1) < .01
  Weeks 0–2 − 3.28 (0.13) − 2.56 (0.16) 1.24 (0.13) − 1.88 (− 2.12 to − 1.65) < .01 − 1.22 (− 1.49 to − 0.95) < .01 − 0.67 (− 0.92 to − 0.42) < .01
 PPI, mean (SD)c
  Weeks 0–1 − 0.70 (0.07) − 0.68 (0.09) 0.29 (0.09) − 0.44 (− 0.58 to − 0.29) < .01 − 0.45 (− 0.62 to − 0.28) < .01 0.04 (− 0.11 to 0.19) .59
  Weeks 0–2 − 1.46 (0.07) − 1.39 (0.09) 0.65 (0.09) − 0.78 (− 0.96 to − 0.6) < .01 − 0.82 (− 1.03 to − 0.6) < .01 0.04 (− 0.16 to 0.24) .72
  1. EA electroacupuncture, VAS visual analog scale, CPM conditioned pain modulation, WOMAC Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index, NPRS numeric pain rating scale, ES emotional scale, PPI present pain intensity
  2. aHigher values indicate better status
  3. bRating scales 0 to 10, with 0 being no pain and 10 being excruciating
  4. cLower values indicate better status
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