Physical therapy vs. glucocorticoid injection in patients with meniscal tears and knee osteoarthritis: a multi-center, randomized, controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline characteristics of the patients

Characteristics	Glucocorticoid _{injection (N=140)}	^Physical therapy	P values	t values
		(N = 133)
Age, years	58.11 ± 4.68	57.68 ± 4.01	0.47	0.72
Female sex, no. ((%))	60 (43)	54 (41)	0.50	2.31
Body mass index (BMI)	28.03 ± 2.56	27.68 ± 3.22	0.44	0.78
Duration of symptoms, mo^a	66.71 ± 9.23	66.88 ± 8.95	0.91	0.11
Baseline symptoms, no./total no. (%)
Knee swelling	37/140 (26)	51/133 (38)	0.05	1.21
Knee giving way	53/140 (38)	61/133 (46)	0.05	0.88
Knee locking	67/140 (48)	59/133 (44)	0.05	2.30
More symptomatic knee, no. (%)
Right knee	51 (36)	58 (44)	0.05	1.55
Left knee	48 (34)	47 (35)	0.53	3.37
Equal	41 (29)	28 (21)	0.05	2.22
Symptoms in both knees, no./total no. (%)	81/140 (58)	73/133 (55)	0.04	1.96
Kellgren-Lawrence grade, no. (%)^b
1	35 (25)	40 (30)	0.03	2.78
2	67 (48)	63 (47)	0.15	0.81
3	30 (21)	21 (16)	0.03	2.26
4	8 (5.7)	9 (6.8)	0.01	0.45
Baseline measures
WOMAC total score^c	107.73 ± 5.54	114.86 ± 7.27	0.41	0.82
VAS score^d	6.77 ± 0.74	6.85 ± 0.67	0.53	0.63
SF-36 score^e	74.06 ± 3.66	74.90 ± 3.44	0.19	1.34
Range of motion (°)	111.06 ± 3.63	110.92 ± 2.65	0.80	0.25
Eyes-closed single-leg standing test	_4.07±0.99	_4.22±0.92	_0.38	_0.89
Eyes-closed in situ stepping test	5.90 ± 0.68	5.92 ± 0.65	0.90	0.13

^aDuration of symptoms reported by the patients; ^bGrades on the Kellgren–Lawrence scale ranging from 0 (no radiographic evidence of osteoarthritis) to 4 (large osteophytes, marked narrowing of the joint space); ^cThe Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) total scores range from 0 to 240, with higher scores indicating worse pain, function, and stiffness; ^d100-mm visual analog scales range from 0 to 10, with higher scores indicating worse pain; ^eThe SF-36 scale consists of eight dimensions of physical functioning, physical functioning, somatic pain, and social functioning; the higher the score is, the greater the improvement in quality of life

ISSN: 1741-7015