Table 2.
Mean values (m) of pain, health, and work ability before intervention (T1), and differences between baseline values and values at 1 month (T2) and 3 months (T3) after intervention start, tested using Wilcoxon’s signed rank test
| T1 | Diff T2-T1 | Diff T3-T1 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m | SD | m | SD | P value | m | SD | P value | |
| Self-rated work ability | ||||||||
| WAI (7–49)a,b | 19.1 | 7.1 | 2.1 | 5.1 | 0.009** | 2.4 | 4.5 | 0.001** |
| Myofeedback training | 19.3 | 7.9 | 2.4 | 5.5 | 0.133 | 1.5 | 3.3 | 0.141 |
| Musc. strength training | 19.0 | 6.9 | 1.5 | 3.4 | 0.076 | 3.9 | 4.8 | 0.005** |
| Control | 19.0 | 6.5 | 2.4 | 6.1 | 0.195 | 2.0 | 5.0 | 0.173 |
| Work ability single item (0–10)a | 3.2 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 1.8 | 0.070 | 0.8 | 1.9 | 0.003** |
| Myofeedback training | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.4 | 2.1 | 0.596 | 0.5 | 1.9 | 0.344 |
| Musc. strength training | 3.3 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.7 | 0.278 | 0.9 | 1.5 | 0.039* |
| Control | 3.1 | 2.2 | 0.6 | 1.7 | 0.149 | 1.1 | 2.1 | 0.071 |
| Laboratory-observed work ability | ||||||||
| Cutlery wiping performance (No. of cutlery per min) | 11.1 | 3.9 | 0.5 | 3.2 | 0.057 | 1.2 | 3.6 | 0.025* |
| Myofeedback training | 10.5 | 3.6 | 1.1 | 2.8 | 0.036* | 0.4 | 3.4 | 0.378 |
| Musc. strength training | 10.7 | 3.8 | 0.1 | 3.6 | 0.985 | 0.2 | 3.3 | 0.903 |
| Control | 12.2 | 4.3 | 0.4 | 3.2 | 0.312 | 2.8 | 3.7 | 0.006** |
| Grip strength | 25.3 | 8.3 | −0.1 | 3.2 | 0.760 | 0.0 | 3.9 | 0.868 |
| Myofeedback training | 25.1 | 9.8 | −0.3 | 3.7 | 0.881 | 0.4 | 4.0 | 0.691 |
| Musc. strength training | 25.5 | 7.3 | 0.5 | 2.9 | 0.561 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 0.463 |
| Control | 25.2 | 7.8 | −0.5 | 3.0 | 0.741 | −0.8 | 4.3 | 0.487 |
| Dexterity/gross movements | 13.8 | 2.4 | 0.5 | 2.0 | 0.070 | 0.2 | 2.1 | 0.484 |
| Myofeedback training | 14.0 | 2.3 | 0.4 | 1.7 | 0.196 | 0.3 | 1.9 | 0.508 |
| Musc. strength training | 13.3 | 2.7 | 0.9 | 2.4 | 0.153 | 0.8 | 2.7 | 0.253 |
| Control | 14.2 | 2.3 | 0.2 | 2.0 | 0.783 | −0.4 | 1.8 | 0.299 |
| Self-rated health and pain | ||||||||
| Mental health (0–100)a | 51.8 | 22.1 | 6.4 | 21.7 | 0.028* | 6.2 | 22.9 | 0.101 |
| Myofeedback training | 57.7 | 21.5 | 2.2 | 22.0 | 0.818 | −2.1 | 18.4 | 0.492 |
| Musc. strength training | 47.0 | 22.7 | 10.5 | 23.9 | 0.079 | 16.5 | 27.8 | 0.042* |
| Control | 50.4 | 21.5 | 6.7 | 19.3 | 0.032* | 5.4 | 19.5 | 0.310 |
| Vitality (0–100)a | 36.6 | 19.3 | 3.4 | 17.6 | 0.120 | 7.9 | 20.0 | 0.016* |
| Myofeedback training | 36.7 | 19.0 | 6.3 | 16.6 | 0.129 | 10.0 | 15.1 | 0.021* |
| Musc. strength training | 35.7 | 20.4 | 2.6 | 21.2 | 0.604 | 12.0 | 26.2 | 0.129 |
| Control | 37.8 | 19.4 | 1.1 | 15.0 | 0.787 | 2.1 | 17.7 | 0.922 |
| Pain in the neck (0–10)b | 6.1 | 1.9 | −0.1 | 1.6 | 0.661 | 0.3 | 2.1 | 0.388 |
| Myofeedback training | 6.0 | 1.9 | −0.7 | 1.4 | 0.046* | −0.1 | 2.0 | 0.795 |
| Musc. strength training | 6.3 | 1.4 | −0.1 | 1.7 | 0.974 | −0.3 | 1.8 | 0.529 |
| Control | 6.2 | 2.5 | 0.5 | 1.6 | 0.292 | 1.1 | 2.2 | 0.046* |
a Baseline measure (T1) varied from 0 to 3 months before intervention start
b P value based on Student’s t-test due to normally distributed data
* P ≤ 0.05; ** P ≤ 0.01