Patient characteristics at baseline*
| Hay et al(n = 164) | Smidt et al(n = 185) | Difference between studies† (95% CI) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| *Values are n (%) unless specified. | |||
| †Difference is mean difference (in percentages of mean scores) between the two studies and 95% confidence intervals (CI). | |||
| ‡Mean differences (95% confidence interval) after adjustment for sociodemographic and clinical characteristics (linear regression analyses) were as follows: severity of main complaint −16.3 (−23.0 to −9.5); inconvenience of elbow complaints −36.5 (−43.5 to −29.5); pain during the day −6.0 (−12.5 to 0.4); pain-free grip strength 34.9 (28.4 to 41.3); elbow disability 28.1 (22.5 to 33.7). | |||
| Sociodemographic characteristics | |||
| Age (years) (mean (SD)) | 48 (9) | 48 (10) | 0.2 (−2 to 2) |
| Female | 78 (48%) | 93 (50%) | −2.7 (−13 to 8) |
| Employment status | |||
| manual worker | 73 (45%) | 46 (25%) | 19.6 (10 to 30) |
| non-manual worker | 51 (31%) | 77 (42%) | −10.5 (−21 to −0.5) |
| unemployed | 40 (24%) | 62 (34%) | −9.1 (−19 to 0.3) |
| Clinical characteristics | |||
| Duration of elbow complaints (weeks) (mean (SD)) | 12 (15) | 18 (27) | −5.4 (−10 to −1) |
| One elbow affected only† | 149 (91%) | 185 (100%) | −9.1 (–) |
| Dominant side affected | 100 (63%) | 145 (78%) | −15.1 (−25 to −6) |
| Patients’ attributed causes of elbow complaints: | |||
| unexpected movement | – | 4 (2%) | – |
| overuse, unusual activities | 24 (15%) | 45 (24%) | −9.7 (−18 to −2) |
| overuse, usual activities | 33 (20%) | 59 (32%) | −11.8 (−21 to −3) |
| accident | 17 (10%) | 3 (2%) | 8.7 (4 to 14) |
| sport injury | 12 (7%) | 21 (11%) | −4.0 (−10 to 2) |
| other | – | 3 (2%) | – |
| cause unknown | 78 (48%) | 50 (27%) | 20.5 (11 to 31) |
| Concomitant neck or shoulder pain | 56 (34%) | 58 (31%) | 2.8 (−7 to 13) |
| Previous elbow complaints | 32 (20%) | 58 (31%) | −11.8 (−21 to −3) |
| Analgesics in previous 48 hours | 118 (72%) | 16 (9%) | 63.3 (55 to 71) |
| Baseline measures of pain and function‡ | |||
| Severity of main complaint (mean (SD)) | 59.3 (27.3) | 67.4 (20.4) | −8.1 (−13 to −3) |
| Inconvenience of elbow complaints (mean (SD)) | 39.4 (24.1) | 67.5 (23.9) | −28.1 (−33 to −23) |
| Pain during the day (mean (SD)) | 56.3 (24.2) | 54.3 (21.1) | 2.0 (−3 to 7) |
| Pain-free grip strength (mean (SD)) | 65.3 (23.4) | 33.9 (21.6) | 31.4 (27 to 36) |
| Elbow disability (mean (SD)) | 78.6 (22.3) | 48.2 (16.9) | 30.4 (26 to 35) |