Table 1.

Comparison of the characteristics of the massage and control groups at baseline (pre-treatment)

Characteristic	Massage group	Control Group	p-value
Number in group	50	51
Gender (male:female)	22:28	20:31	0.626 NS
Age in years Mean (SD)	51.5 (13.4)	55.2 (12.9)	0.171 NS
Duration of pain in years. Mean (SD)	9.86 (7.47)	11.0 (10.2)	0.540 NS
Therapist (A:B)	27:23	27:24	0.915 NS
Pain VAS. Range 0–100. Mean (SD)	57.7 (18.0)	62.3 (16.6)	0.200 NS
McGill Pain Q'aire Pain Rating Index Range 0–78 Mean (SD)	27.3 (11.5)	25.1 (14.4)	0.390 NS
Spielberger SF STAI Range 6–24 Mean (SD)	13.3 (4.16)	12.0 (4.15)	0.139 NS