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Table 2 Comparison of baseline characteristics across the intervention groups

From: Brief psychosocial education, not core stabilization, reduced incidence of low back pain: results from the Prevention of Low Back Pain in the Military (POLM) cluster randomized trial

Variable

Label

Overall

TEP

TEP+PSEP

CSEP

CSEP+PSEP

P-Value

  

N = 4,325

N = 1,216

N = 952

N = 1,096

N = 1,061

 

Innate characteristics

A Age

 

22.0 ± 4.2

21.6 ± 4.1

22.6 ± 4.5

21.8 ± 4.0

22.1 ± 4.3

<0.0001

Gender

Male

3,082

870 (71.7%)

689 (72.5%)

758 (69.5%)

765 (72.7%)

0.335

 

Female

1,226

344 (28.3%)

262 (27.5%)

333 (30.5%)

287 (27.3%)

 

Race

Black or Africa

420

104 (8.6%)

88 (9.3%)

114 (10.4%)

114 (10.8%)

0.236

 

Hispanic

426

128 (10.5%)

97 (10.3%)

115 (10.5%)

86 (8.1%)

 
 

White or Caucas

3,190

897 (73.8%)

711 (75.2%)

797 (72.8%)

785 (74.1%)

 
 

Other

279

86 (7.1%)

50 (5.3%)

69 (6.3%)

74 (7.0%)

 

Education

High school or lower

1,935

600 (49.3%)

409 (43.0%)

484 (44.2%)

442 (41.7%)

0.0038

 

Some college

1,998

504 (41.4%)

463 (48.6%)

506 (46.2%)

525 (49.5%)

 
 

College or higher

391

112 (9.2%)

80 (8.4%)

105 (9.6%)

94 (8.9%)

 

Income

Less than $20,000

2,125

620 (51.2%)

418 (44.0%)

583 (53.3%)

504 (47.7%)

0.0001

 

Greater than $20,000

2,188

592 (48.8%)

532 (56.0%)

511 (46.7%)

553 (52.3%)

 

Active Duty

Active

2,532

725 (59.6%)

504 (52.9%)

737 (67.4%)

566 (53.4%)

<0.0001

 

Reserve

1,782

491 (40.4%)

446 (46.8%)

356 (32.5%)

489 (46.1%)

 
 

Other

8

 

2 (0.2%)

1 (0.1%)

5 (0.5%)

 

Time In Army

<5 months

2,691

768 (63.2%)

566 (59.5%)

737 (67.4%)

620 (58.5%)

<0.0001

 

5 months to 1 year

969

276 (22.7%)

198 (20.8%)

222 (20.3%)

273 (25.8%)

 
 

More than 1 year

661

172 (14.1%)

188 (19.7%)

134 (12.3%)

167 (15.8%)

 

Height

 

68.3 ± 3.9

68.4 ± 3.7

68.4 ± 3.8

68.1 ± 4.0

68.4 ± 4.0

0.340

Weight

 

164.8 ± 27.7

164.8 ± 26.7

165.7 ± 28.2

163.8 ± 27.9

165.2 ± 28.0

0.426

BMI

 

24.8 ± 3.1

24.7 ± 3.0

24.8 ± 3.3

24.7 ± 3.2

24.7 ± 3.2

0.807

Psychological

BDI Total

 

6.4 ± 6.6

6.5 ± 6.9

6.4 ± 6.7

6.5 ± 6.5

6.3 ± 6.2

0.843

FPQ Total

 

18.1 ± 5.9

17.8 ± 5.9

18.2 ± 5.9

18.0 ± 6.1

18.2 ± 5.6

0.317

BBQ Total

 

43.4 ± 7.1

43.3 ± 7.2

43.1 ± 6.9

44.0 ± 6.8

43.2 ± 7.2

0.010

STAI

 

36.0 ± 9.1

36.2 ± 9.5

35.8 ± 9.1

35.7 ± 9.0

36.3 ± 9.0

0.337

Baseline health status and physical activity

SF 12 PCS

 

53.4 ± 5.2

53.7 ± 5.0

53.5 ± 5.0

53.4 ± 5.3

53.1 ± 5.2

0.041

SF 12 MCS

 

49.2 ± 8.6

49.2 ± 8.7

49.1 ± 8.7

49.2 ± 8.5

49.0 ± 8.5

0.938

Smoke Prior to Army

Yes

1,552

442 (36.3%)

354 (37.2%)

374 (34.2%)

382 (36.0%)

0.534

 

No

2,771

774 (63.7%)

598 (62.8%)

720 (65.8%)

679 (64.0%)

 

Exercise Routinely

Yes

2,220

627 (51.6%)

474 (49.8%)

560 (51.2%)

559 (52.7%)

0.647

 

No

2,102

589 (48.4%)

477 (50.2%)

534 (48.8%)

502 (47.3%)

 

Attention/Relational Effect

Physical Exam

No

3,951

1,128 (92.8%)

855 (89.8%)

1,005 (91.7%)

963 (90.8%)

0.087

 

Yes

374

88 (7.2%)

97 (10.2%)

91 (8.3%)

98 (9.2%)

 
  1. BBQ, Back Beliefs Questionnaire; BDI, Beck Depression Inventory; BMI, body mass index; CSEP, core stabilization exercise program; FPQ, Fear of Pain Questionnaire (9 items); PSEP, psychosocial education program; SF 12 MCS, Mental Component Summary Score from the Short Form Medical Survey (12 items); SF 12 PCS, Physical Component Summary Score from the Short Form Medical Survey (12 items); STAI, State Trait Anxiety Inventory (state portion only); TEP, traditional exercise program