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Table 1 Baseline characteristics

From: Predictive ability of the start back tool: an ancillary analysis of a low back pain trial from Danish general practice

Patient characteristics

STarT

low-risk

N = 124

STarT

medium-risk

N = 176

STarT

high-risk

N = 141

P-value

Age (years)

46.8 (11.6)

45.2 (11.4)

43.7 (11.0)

0.029*

Gender (male)

63 (50.8%)

81 (46.0%)

66 (46.8%)

0.705†

College-level education (yes)

41 (33.6%)

46 (26.6%)

17 (12.4%)

< 0.001†

Employed (yes)

94 (76.4%)

136 (78.2%)

94 (68.6%)

0.144†

Sick leave with LBP, hours during 14 days

0 [0; 8]

4.5 [0; 18.5]

18 [2; 40]

< 0.001Ç‚

RMDQ score (0–23 points)

8.7 (4.9)

14.0 (4.7)

17.3 (4.2)

< 0.001*

Numerical pain rating (0–10 points)

4.6 (2.1)

6.3 (2.0)

7.2 (1.7)

< 0.001*

EQ VAS (0–100 points)

64.4 (20.9)

57.5 (20.3)

43.7 (21.8)

< 0.001*

  1. Note: STarT Back Tool is a patient-reported nine-item questionnaire, which subgroups patients according to risk of complexity and persistent symptoms. *Comparing the low-risk group and the high-risk group and tested by Student’s T-test. †Comparing all groups by Fischer’s Exact test. ǂComparing the low-risk group and the high-risk group and tested by the Mann-Whitney test. Data are mean (sd), number (%), or median [iqr]. The numbers of missing values were as follows: education n = 9, employment status n = 7, sick leave n = 68, numerical pain rating n = 12, and EQ VAS n = 6