Treatment of myofascial trigger points in patients with chronic shoulder pain: a randomized, controlled trial

Table 1 Characteristics of participants at baselinea

Parameter	Intervention (n = 34)	Control (n = 31)
Age, mean yr (SD; 95% CI)	42.8 (11.7; 38.7-46.9)	45.0 (13.2; 40.2-49.9)
Female, number (%)	21 (62)	23 (74)
Level of education^b, number (%)
Low	2 (6)	2 (7)
Intermediate	13 (38)	17 (55)
High	19 (56)	12 (38)
Right-handed, number (%)	33 (97)	29 (94)
Pain dominant side, number (%)	24 (70)	19 (61)
Duration of complaints, number (%)
6-9 months	10 (29)	5 (16)
9-12 months	4 (12)	8 (26)
1-2 yr	8 (23)	6 (19)
2-5 yr	6 (18)	5 (16)
>5 yr	6 (18)	7 (23)
Episode, number (%)
First	13 (38)	11 (35)
Second	8 (24)	8 (26)
Third or more	13 (38)	12 (39)
DASH-DLV, mean (SD; 95% CI)^c	30.3 (16.6; 24.5-36.1)	30.8 (11.9; 26.5-35.2)
VAS-P1, mean (SD; 95% CI)^d	31.9 (24.3; 21.9-41.9)	35.2 (25.7; 25.7-43.0)
VAS-P2, mean (SD; 95% CI)^d	41.3 (19.7; 33.2-49.4)	43.4 (17.0; 37.2-50.0)
VAS-P3, mean (SD; 95% CI)^d	54.9 (21.9; 45.8-63.9)	59.5 (18.2; 52.8-66.2)
BDI-II-DLV, mean (SD; 95% CI)^e	6.3 (4.0; 4.9-7.8)	5.8 (8.2; 2.8-8.8)
RAND-36-DLV, mean (SD; 95% I)^f
Social functioning	78.7 (20.3; 71.6-85.8)	81.1 (18.5; 74.3-87.8)
Limitations due to physical problems	47.7 (43.0; 32.5-63.0)	49.5 (37.2; 35.8-63.1)
Vitality	59.3 (17.0; 53.3-65.1)	62.6 (17.9; 56.0-69.1)
Bodily pain	51.6 (16.0; 45.7-57.6)	52.7 (12.3; 48.2-57.2)
General health perception	52.9 (8.5; 50.0-55.9)	56.6 (7.0; 54.1-59.2)
PROM, mean (SD; 95% CI)^g	28.4 (34.8; 16.1-40.7)	39.0 (34.9; 26.2-51.8)
Muscles with MTrPs, mean (95% CI)^h
Active MTrPs	7.4 (3.6; 6.1-8.7)	6.1 (3.5; 4.8-7.4 )
Latent MTrPs	4.2 (2.7; 3.2-5.1)	5.9 (3.0; 4.8-7.0)

^aSD, standard deviation; 95% CI, 95% confidence interval; MTrPs, myofascial trigger points. ^bHigh education (university and higher vocational school), medium education (middle vocational school and higher or middle general secondary school) and low education (lower vocational school, lower general secondary school, primary school or no education). ^cHigher Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand outcome measure, Dutch-language version (DASH-DLV) scores indicate more disability, with a maximum of 100 (range, 0-100). ^dHigher scores on the Visual Analogue Scale for Pain (VAS-P) indicate more pain, with a maximum of 100 (range, 0-100). VAS-P1, current pain score; VAS-P2, average pain score for the past 7 days; VAS-P3, most severe pain score for the past 7 days. ^eHigher scores on the Beck Depression Inventory, 2nd edition, Dutch-language version (BDI-II-DLV) indicate more symptoms of depression (range, 0-63). ^fOnly the subscales of the nine subscales of the RAND Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Short Form Health Survey, Dutch-language version (RAND-36-DLV) that differ significantly from a normal Dutch population are presented here [89]. Higher scores indicate a better quality of life (range, 0-100). ^gA positive number (degrees) of the Passive Range of Motion (PROM) mean score indicates impairment of the PROM of the affected shoulder. ^hNumber of muscles with active, respectively latent MTrPs (range, 0-17 muscles).

ISSN: 1741-7015