Table 4 Sick leave, additional treatments and adverse events. Use and length of paid sick leave, use of additional not per protocol treatments and reported adverse events for each treatment group. Values are numbers (percentages) if not otherwise stated. Chi-square test of independence and one-way analysis of variance for between groups association
Control | Placebo injection with physiotherapy | Corticosteroid injection with physiotherapy | P | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
(n = 60) | (n = 58) | Chi‐square test | ||
Paid sick leave during 52 week follow‐up | ||||
Number (percentage) on leave | 30 (52) | 31 (56) | 30 (55) | 0.88 |
Duration of leave for those on sick‐leave: | ||||
Days on full leave mean (95 % CI) | 43.6 (22.0 to 65.1) | 73.2 (34.2 to 112.2) | 47.1 (30.0 to 64.3) | 0.25* |
Days on partial leave mean (95 % CI) | 60.0 (23.1 to 96.9) | 22.0 (6.8 to 37.3) | 29.2 (11.2 to 47.2) | 0.07* |
Additional treatments | ||||
Number of patients receiving additional treatments | 13 (23) | 12 (22) | 16 (30) | 0.63 |
Type of treatment: | ||||
Pain killers | 6 (11) | 4 (7) | 2 (4) | 0.37 |
NSAIDs perorally | 7 (13) | 9 (16) | 11 (20) | 0.54 |
topical NSAIDs | 3 (5) | 1 (2) | 2 (4) | 0.62 |
other medication | 3 (6) | 0 (0) | 3 (6) | 0.22 |
physiotherapy | 4 (7) | 1 (2) | 9 (17) | 0.02+ |
other | 6 (11) | 4 (7) | 4 (8) | 0.76 |
Adverse Events | ||||
Patients reporting adverse events | 9 (16) | 5 (9) | 6 (11) | 0.51 |
Type of adverse events | ||||
increased pain | 2 (4) | 2 (4) | 0 (0) | 0.37 |
GI side effects** | 8 (15) | 3 (6) | 6 (11) | 0.30 |
skin atrophy | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | ‐ |