Adverse events after manual therapy among patients seeking care for neck and/or back pain: a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the patients stratified for treatment arms (n = 767)

	MT^a	MT excluding spinal manipulation	MT excluding stretching
	n = 249	n = 258	n = 260
Mean age	35.0	35.3	35.7
(SD)	(12.4)	(12.3)	(11.3)
Women, %	67	74	75
Painful area, %
Back	35	33	33
Neck	54	54	54
Back/Neck	11	13	13
Duration of the pain, %
1 week	17	17	18
2–4 weeks	28	23	25
1–3 months	17	21	20
3–6 months	9	10	6
>6 months	29	29	31
^bPain at baseline	5.5	5.3	5.5
(SD)	(1.7)	(1.7)	(1.8)
^cDisability at baseline	2.5	2.5	2.6
(SD)	(2.2)	(2.3)	(2.2)
Education, %
1–9 years	3	5	3
10–12	40	37	36
13–15	46	46	47
>16	11	12	14
General health, %
Excellent	16	15	18
Very good	46	48	43
Good	31	30	35
Somewhat	6	7	3
Bad	1	0	1
Daily smoking, %	18	14	17

^aManual Therapy (spinal manipulation/mobilization, stretching and massage).
^bPain at baseline was based on three pain items: current pain, worst pain, average pain during the past four weeks, measured with a numeric rating scale, 0–10 (0 = no pain, 10 = pain as bad it could be) and calculated as an average pain score for these items.
^cDisability at baseline was based on three disability items: interference with daily activities, recreational and social activities, and work activities, measured with numeric rating scale, 0–10 (0 = no interference, 10 = unable to carry on with these activities) and calculated as an average disability score for these items.

ISSN: 1471-2474