Table 2 Primary and secondary outcomes on each assessed time point.

From: Utilization of telemedicine in conjunction with wearable devices for patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain: a randomized controlled clinical trial

Variables

Time

Usual care

(n = 34)

Telemedicine

(n = 37)

p-value

Effect size

Mean (SD)

[95% CI]

Mean (SD)

[95% CI]

Pain-NRS (/10)

Baseline

6.0 (1.8)

[5.4–6.7]

6.4 (2.3)

[5.6–7.1]

0.258

0.155

 

1 month

6.4 (1.8)

[5.8–7.0]

6.1 (2.4)

[5.3–6.9]

0.279

0.140

 

3 months

6.0 (2.3)

[5.2–6.8]

5.6 (2.7)

[4.7–6.5]

0.220

0.185

 

6 months

6.3 (2.2)

[5.5–7.1]

5.1 (3.0)

[4.1–6.1]

0.039*

0.424

PCS (/52)

Baseline

32.2 (10.5)

[28.6–35.9]

31.1 (11.2)

[27.4–34.9]

0.336

0.101

 

1 month

33.0 (11.2)

[29.1–36.9]

26.6 (11.6)

[22.7–30.5]

0.010*

0.563

 

3 months

31.1 (13.1)

[26.6–35.7]

25.9 (13.0)

[21.6–30.2]

0.048*

0.402

 

6 months

32.1 (12.4)

[27.7–36.5]

25.6 (13.6)

[21.0–30.1]

0.020*

0.501

- PCS rumination (/20)

Baseline

11.7 (3.2)

[10.6–12.8]

11.9 (2.9)

[11.0–12.9]

0.355

0.089

 

1 month

12.2 (3.7)

[10.9–13.5]

10.2 (3.7)

[8.9–11.4]

0.011*

0.557

 

3 months

11.1 (4.7)

[9.4–12.7]

10.1 (4.1)

[8.7–11.4]

0.170

0.228

 

6 months

11.5 (4.3)

[10.0–13.1]

10.3 (4.2)

[8.9–11.7]

0.119

0.286

- PCS magnification (/12)

Baseline

6.3 (3.1)

[5.2–7.4]

6.4 (3.4)

[5.2–7.5]

0.456

0.027

 

1 month

6.6 (3.0)

[5.5–7.6]

5.4 (2.8)

[4.5–6.4]

0.050

0.397

 

3 months

6.5 (3.4)

[5.3–7.7]

5.1 (3.3)

[4.0–6.2]

0.043*

0.415

 

6 months

6.8 (3.2)

[5.7–7.9]

4.9 (3.5)

[3.8–6.1]

0.013*

0.547

- PCS helplessness (/20)

Baseline

14.3 (5.5)

[12.4–16.2]

12.8 (6.1)

[10.8–14.9]

0.148

0.251

 

1 month

14.2 (5.6)

[12.2–16.1]

11.0 (6.3)

[8.9–13.1]

0.014*

0.532

 

3 months

13.2 (6.3)

[11.0–15.4]

10.7 (6.7)

[8.5–12.9]

0.052

0.391

 

6 months

13.8 (6.1)

[11.6–15.9]

10.3 (7.0)

[8.0–12.7]

0.016*

0.525

HADS (/42)

Baseline

18.6 (8.2)

[15.7–21.5]

16.3 (8.7)

[13.4–19.2]

0.124

0.277

 

1 month

19.2 (9.3)

[16.0–22.5]

14.7 (7.4)

[12.3–17.2]

0.013*

0.541

 

3 months

17.2 (8.6)

[14.2–20.2]

14.4 (7.6)

[11.8–16.9]

0.075

0.345

 

6 months

18.6 (9.2)

[15.3–21.8]

13.9 (9.2)

[10.8–16.9]

0.028*

0.461

- HADS anxiety (/21)

Baseline

9.0 (4.7)

[7.4–10.7]

8.1 (4.6)

[6.5–9.6]

0.190

0.210

 

1 month

9.1 (5.0)

[7.3–10.8]

7.3 (3.8)

[6.0–8.6]

0.047*

0.404

 

3 months

8.0 (4.3)

[6.5–9.4]

7.2 (4.2)

[5.8–8.6]

0.211

0.192

 

6 months

8.5 (4.7)

[6.9–10.2]

6.8 (4.8)

[5.2–8.4]

0.095

0.315

- HADS depression (/21)

Baseline

9.6 (4.4)

[8.0–11.1]

8.2 (5.0)

[6.5–9.9]

0.113

0.290

 

1 month

10.1 (5.0)

[8.4–11.9]

7.4 (4.6)

[5.9–9.0]

0.010*

0.563

 

3 months

9.2 (5.1)

[7.4–11.0]

7.2 (4.6)

[5.7–8.7]

0.045*

0.409

 

6 months

10.0 (5.2)

[8.2–11.9]

7.0 (5.2)

[5.3–8.8]

0.015*

0.526

PDAS (/60)

Baseline

24.8 (9.2)

[21.6–28.0]

23.7 (11.0)

[20.0–27.4]

0.327

0.107

 

1 month

25.6 (10.1)

[22.1–29.1]

21.3 (11.3)

[17.5–25.0]

0.047*

0.403

 

3 months

25.7 (12.6)

[21.3–30.1]

20.7 (11.9)

[16.8–24.7]

0.046*

0.406

 

6 months

25.8 (12.1)

[21.5–30.2]

20.6 (12.4)

[16.4–24.7]

0.044*

0.411

EQ-5D-3L (/1.00)

Baseline

0.57 (0.16)

[0.51–0.62]

0.60 (0.16)

[0.54–0.65]

0.227

0.179

 

1 month

0.55 (0.17)

[0.50–0.61]

0.63 (0.12)

[0.59–0.67]

0.014*

0.530

 

3 months

0.57 (0.17)

[0.51–0.62]

0.64 (0.14)

[0.60–0.69]

0.020*

0.496

 

6 months

0.57 (0.19)

[0.50–0.64]

0.64 (0.16)

[0.59–0.70]

0.049*

0.398

  1. CI, Confidence Interval; EQ-5D-3L, EuroQol-five dimensions-three level; HADS, Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale; NRS, Numeric Rating Scale; PCS, Pain Catastrophizing Scale; PDAS, Pain Disability Assessment Scale; SD, Standard Deviation. *, p < 0.05, between usual care group and telemedicine group. Continuous variables were represented as mean, standard deviations, and 95% confidence interval. Cohen’s d was used to evaluate the magnitude of the effect size.
  2. There was no significant difference of scores at baseline (p ≥ 0.05). Pain-NRS, PCS, HADS, PDAS, and EQ-5D-3L score at 6 months in telemedicine group was significantly superior to usual care group (p < 0.05*).
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