Effects of acupuncture at acupoints with lower versus higher pain threshold for knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Liu, Jiali; Li, Ying; Li, Ling; Luo, Xiaochao; Li, Ning; Yang, Xuguang; Zhang, Hongxing; Liu, Zhibin; Kang, Deying; Luo, Yanan; Liu, Yanmei; Jia, Yulong; Ren, Yan; Yao, Minghong; Wang, Yuning; Chen, Jin; Maiji, Mewujia; Zou, Kang; Zhao, Ling; Liang, Fanrong; Sun, Xin

doi:10.1186/s13020-022-00626-3

Table 3 Comparison of secondary outcomes between treatment groups^b

From: Effects of acupuncture at acupoints with lower versus higher pain threshold for knee osteoarthritis: a multicenter randomized controlled trial

Secondary outcomes measure^a	LPT group vs HPT group		LPT group vs WL group		HPT group vs WL group
Secondary outcomes measure^a	Mean difference (95% CI)	P value	Mean difference (95% CI)	P value	Mean difference (95% CI)	P value
WOMAC pain
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	−0.01 (−1.06 to 1.03)	0.98	−2.28 (−3.32 to −1.25)	< 0.001	−2.27 (−1.31 to −1.23)	< 0.001
8 weeks	−0.14 (−1.19 to 0.91)	0.80	−2.63 (−3.68 to −1.59)	< 0.001	−2.49 (−3.53 to −1.45)	< 0.001
12 weeks	0.45 (−0.60 to 1.51)	0.40	−2.16 (−3.20 to −1.11)	< 0.001	−2.61 (−3.66 to −1.57)	< 0.001
16 weeks	0.26 (−0.79 to 1.31)	0.63	−2.47 (−3.51 to −1.43)	< 0.001	−2.73 (−3.77 to −1.69)	< 0.001
WOMAC stiffness
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	−0.16 (−0.67 to 0.34)	0.52	−0.93 (−1.42 to −0.43)	< 0.001	−0.76 (−1.26 to −0.26)	0.003
8 weeks	−0.16 (−0.66 to 0.35)	0.54	−0.81 (−1.31 to −0.30)	0.002	−0.65 (−1.15 to −0.15)	0.01
12 weeks	−0.13 (−0.64 to 0.38)	0.61	−0.85 (−1.35 to −0.35)	0.001	−0.72 (−1.22 to −0.21)	0.005
16 weeks	−0.06 (−0.57 to 0.44)	0.80	−0.71 (−1.22 to −0.21)	0.005	−0.65 (−1.15 to −0.15)	0.01
WOMAC function
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	1.38 (−2.12 to 4.87)	0.44	−7.56 (−11.03 to −4.10)	< 0.001	−8.94 (−12.04 to −5.48)	< 0.001
8 weeks	0.48 (−3.03 to 4.00)	0.79	−7.45 (−10.93 to −3.96)	< 0.001	−7.93 (−11.41 to −4.45)	< 0.001
12 weeks	2.63 (−0.89 to 6.16)	0.14	−6.02 (−9.51 to −2.52)	< 0.001	−8.65 (−12.14 to −5.17)	< 0.001
16 weeks	2.32 (−1.18 to 5.83)	0.19	−7.22 (−10.70 to −3.74)	< 0.001	−9.55 (−13.02 to −6.08)	< 0.001
SF-12 PCS
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	1.09 (−0.16 to 2.34)	0.09	2.75 (1.51 to 3.99)	< 0.001	1.66 (0.42 to 2.90)	0.008
8 weeks	−0.47 (−1.74 to 0.79)	0.47	1.55 (0.30 to 2.81)	0.015	2.02 (0.77 to 3.27)	0.002
12 weeks	0.62 (−0.65 to 1.89)	0.34	1.93 (0.67 to 3.18)	0.003	1.30 (0.05 to 2.56)	0.04
16 weeks	0.10 (−1.15 to 1.36)	0.87	1.97 (0.72 to 3.21)	0.002	1.86 (0.62 to 3.11)	0.003
SF-12 MCS
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	−0.12 (−1.50 to 1.26)	0.86	−0.22 (−1.58 to 1.14)	0.75	−0.10 (−1.46 to 1.26)	0.88
8 weeks	0.15 (−1.24 to 1.54)	0.83	0.93 (−0.45 to 2.30)	0.19	0.78 (−0.60 to 2.15)	0.27
12 weeks	−0.50 (−1.89 to 0.90)	0.48	−0.17 (−1.55 to 1.22)	0.81	0.33 (−1.04 to 1.71)	0.64
16 weeks	−0.33 (−1.71 to 1.06)	0.64	0.56 (−0.81 to 1.93)	0.42	0.89 (−0.48 to 2.26)	0.2
Knee flexion ROM
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	0.79 (−0.97 to 2.54)	0.38	4.33 (2.59 to 6.08)	< 0.001	3.55 (1.81 to 5.29)	< 0.001
8 weeks	1.03 (−0.77 to 2.83)	0.26	3.32 (1.53 to 5.11)	< 0.001	2.30 (0.51 to 4.08)	0.01
12 weeks	0.88 (−0.99 to 2.74)	0.36	1.05 (−0.80 to 2.90	0.24	0.17 (−1.66 to 2.01)	0.85
16 weeks	0.53 (−1.36 to 2.42)	0.58	1.79 (−0.08 to 3.66)	0.06	1.25 (−0.60 to 3.11)	0.19
Knee extension ROM
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	0.13 (0.02 to 0.25)	0.02	0.06 (−0.06 to 0.18)	0.32	−0.07 (−0.19 to 0.04)	0.21
8 weeks	0.02 (−0.10 to 0.14)	0.79	0.10 (−0.02 to 0.21)	0.12	0.08 (−0.04 to 0.20)	0.2
12 weeks	0.05 (−0.08 to 0.17)	0.48	0.13 (0.01 to 0.25)	0.04	0.08 (−0.04 to 0.21)	0.17
16 weeks	0.03 (−0.10 to 0.15)	0.68	0.10 (−0.02 to 0.23)	0.1	0.08 (−0.05 to 0.20)	0.22
Knee internal rotation ROM
Baseline	–	–	–	–	–	–
4 weeks	0.44 (−0.73 to 1.62)	0.46	1.28 (0.12 to 2.45)	0.03	0.84 (−0.33 to 2.00)	0.16
8 weeks	0.09 (−1.12 to 1.30)	0.89	1.61 (0.41 to 2.81)	0.009	1.52 (0.32 to 2.72)	0.01
12 weeks	0.14 (−1.12 to 1.39)	0.83	1.89 (0.65 to 3.12)	0.003	1.75 (0.52 to 2.98)	0.005
16 weeks	0.24 (−1.03 to 1.51)	0.71	0.52 (−0.74 to 1.77)	0.42	0.28 (−0.96 to 1.53)	0.66
Knee external rotation ROM
Baseline	–		–		–	–
4 weeks	−0.42 (−1.63 to 0.80)	0.50	0.88 (−0.33 to 2.08)	0.15	1.30 (0.09 to 2.50)	0.03
8 weeks	0.34 (−0.90 to 1.59)	0.59	1.49 (0.16 to 2.63)	0.03	1.05 (−0.18 to 2.29)	0.09
12 weeks	0.43 (−0.86 to 1.71)	0.52	0.56 (−0.72 to 1.83)	0.39	0.13 (−1.13 to 1.40)	0.84
16 weeks	−0.44 (−1.74 to 0.87)	0.51	0.70 (−0.59 to 2.00)	0.28	1.14 (−0.14 to 2.42)	0.08

LPT lower pain threshold, HPT higher pain threshold, WL waiting-list
^aMissing data not imputed for secondary outcomes analyses
^bAdjusted analysis was performed using a liner mixed model with baseline value as covariate, treatment, visit, and interaction between treatment and visit as fixed effects, sites and individuals as random effects

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