Participants with clinically important changes in outcomes, by follow-up time*
| Outcome | No. (%) of participants | p§ | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Treatment group (electroacupuncture with nocturnal splinting) n = 90 | Control group (nocturnal splinting only) n = 91 | ||
| BCTQ score | |||
| SSS | |||
| Week 1 | 11 (12.2) | 19 (20.9) | 0.1 |
| Week 2 | 19 (21.1) | 23 (25.3) | 0.5 |
| Week 5† | 33 (37.9) | 27 (30.0) | 0.3 |
| Week 17‡ | 40 (47.1) | 32 (36.0) | 0.1 |
| FSS | |||
| Week 1 | 7 (7.8) | 17 (18.7) | 0.03 |
| Week 2 | 15 (16.7) | 15 (16.5) | 1.0 |
| Week 5† | 19 (21.8) | 18 (20.0) | 0.8 |
| Week 17‡ | 30 (35.3) | 21 (23.6) | 0.09 |
| DASH score | |||
| Week 1 | 7 (7.8) | 16 (17.6) | 0.05 |
| Week 2 | 17 (18.9) | 19 (20.9) | 0.7 |
| Week 5† | 24 (27.6) | 21 (23.3) | 0.5 |
| Week 17‡ | 40 (47.1) | 26 (29.2) | 0.02 |
| Pain intensity | |||
| Week 1 | 18 (20.0) | 20 (22.0) | 0.7 |
| Week 2 | 21 (23.3) | 24 (26.4) | 0.6 |
| Week 5† | 27 (31.0) | 28 (31.1) | 1.0 |
| Week 17‡ | 34 (40.0) | 31 (34.8) | 0.5 |
| Blinded DMMPUT completion time | |||
| Week 17‡ | 32 (37.6) | 17 (19.1) | < 0.01 |
| Tip pinch strength | |||
| Week 17‡ | 39 (45.9) | 32 (36.0) | 0.2 |
Note: BCTQ = Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire, DASH = Disability of Hand and Shoulder Questionnaire, DMMPUT = Dellon-modified Moberg pick-up test, FSS = Functional Status Scale.
↵* Threshold for a minimally important difference is defined as a half of the baseline SD for SSS, FSS, DASH and DMMPUT, 1.66 lb for tip pinch strength, and 2 for pain intensity measured on a numerical rating scale.
↵† Particpants left trial (n = 87 for the treatment group, n = 90 for the control group).
↵‡ Particpants left trial (n = 85 for the treatment group, n = 89 for the control group).
↵§ Two-sided p values for comparing proportions of patients showing clinically important changes between groups.