Table 1 The demographic characteristics of the recruited participants at baseline
Characteristic | Intervention (n = 103) | Control (n = 86) | p value | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
n | (%) | n | (%) | ||
Age—mean (SD), years‡ | 67.38 | (7.79) | 68.81 | (6.74) | 0.182 |
Gender†| |||||
 Male | 10 | (9.7) | 4 | (4.7) | 0.266 |
 Female | 93 | (90.3) | 82 | (95.3) |  |
Body mass index—mean (SD), kg/m2‡ | 25.12 | (3.58) | 24.85 | (3.05) | 0.578 |
Symptom duration—mean (SD), years‡ | 7.54 | (7.83) | 7.08 | (7.27) | 0.680 |
Level of education†|  |  |  |  | 0.215 |
 Primary school or less | 3 | (2.9) | 5 | (5.8) |  |
 Junior high school | 26 | (25.2) | 29 | (33.7) |  |
 High school | 39 | (37.9) | 33 | (38.4) |  |
 College graduate and above | 35 | (34.0) | 19 | (22.1) |  |
Marital status†|  |  |  |  | 0.445 |
 Single | 16 | (15.5) | 17 | (19.8) |  |
 Married | 87 | (84.5) | 69 | (80.2) |  |
Number of affected knees†|  |  |  |  | 0.259 |
 One | 54 | (52.4) | 38 | (44.2) |  |
 Two | 49 | (47.6) | 48 | (55.8) |  |
Uses a walker†|  |  |  |  | 0.997 |
 Yes | 6 | (5.8) | 5 | (5.8) |  |
 No | 97 | (94.2) | 81 | (94.2) |  |
Comorbid conditions†| |||||
 Hypertension |  |  |  |  | 0.077 |
  Yes | 44 | (42.7) | 26 | (30.2) |  |
  No | 59 | (57.3) | 60 | (69.8) |  |
 Diabetes |  |  |  |  | 0.015* |
  Yes | 18 | (17.5) | 5 | (5.8) |  |
  No | 85 | (82.5) | 81 | (94.2) |  |
 Coronary heart disease |  |  |  |  | 0.085 |
  Yes | 12 | (11.7) | 4 | (4.7) |  |
  No | 91 | (88.4) | 82 | (95.4) |  |
 Osteoporosis |  |  |  |  | 0.578 |
  Yes | 32 | (31.1) | 30 | (34.9) |  |
  No | 71 | (68.9) | 56 | (65.1) |  |
Current drug use†| |||||
 Analgesics |  |  |  |  | 0.669 |
  Yes | 10 | (9.7) | 10 | (11.6) |  |
  No | 93 | (90.3) | 76 | (88.4) |  |
 Cartilage protection drugs |  |  |  |  | 0.937 |
  Yes | 16 | (15.5) | 13 | (15.1) |  |
  No | 87 | (84.5) | 73 | (84.9) |  |