Manipulative therapy in addition to usual medical care accelerates recovery of shoulder complaints at higher costs: economic outcomes of a randomized trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics and values of outcome measures by allocated treatment

	AMT (n = 79)	UMC (n = 71)
Mean age in years	48.4 ± 12.4	47.8 ± 11.8
Female	42 (51)	37 (52)
Dominant side affected	58 (73)	45 (63)
Acute onset of complaints	27 (35)	19 (28)
Mean duration before consultation
<6 weeks	28 (35)	28 (39)
6-12 weeks	25 (32)	22 (32)
12-26 weeks	10 (13)	11 (15)
>26 weeks	10 (14)	16 (20)
Previous episodes of shoulder pain
None	18 (23)	18 (25)
1 episode	18 (23)	14 (21)
2-5 episodes	27 (34)	27 (20)
>5 episodes	16 (20)	12 (17)
Previous neck complaints	50 (63)	43 (61)
Paid job	56/79 (71%)	47/71 (66%)
Previous sick leave from work
None	36/56 (46%)	37/47 (48%)
<2 weeks	17/56 (30%)	9/47 (19%)
>2 weeks	3/56 (5%)	4/47 (9%)
Severity of main complaint ^a	6.9 ± 1.9	6.4 ± 2.1
Shoulder Pain ^b	17.8 ± 4.7	17.9 ± 4.3
Shoulder Disability ^c	58.6 ± 28.0	60.7 ± 29.0
General health (EQ5D) ^d	0.69 ± .19	0.68 ± .18

Presented are number of patients and percentages between brackets [n (%)] or mean scores and standard deviation [mean ± SD). AMT: Manipulative therapy as add-on to UMC. UMC: Usual Medical Care by General Practitioner.
a) Severity of main complaint: rating by the patient for severity the main complaint during the preceding week (11-point scale; 0(best) -10(worst)). b) Shoulder Pain Score: rating by the patient for the experienced pain in rest, pain in motion, nightly pain, sleeping problems caused by pain, incapability of lying on the painful side, degree of radiation and general pain (all 4-point ordinal scales; 1(no pain)- 4 (severe pain)), total range: 7(best)-28 worst). c) Shoulder Disability Questionnaire: rating by the patient for the functional status of the shoulder in the preceding 24 hours (16 items; not applicable/yes/no). Presented score is the percentage of positive items in the total applicable items, total range: 0(best)-100(worst). d) EuroQol: health related quality of life (5 items; 3-point ordinal scale), total range: -1(worst)-+1(best).

ISSN: 1471-2474