Table 1. Participant characteristics at recruitment.
| Demographics | Outcome measures | ||
| Age in years | 62.0 (12.1) | Pain VAS: 0 to 100 | 59.0 (21.3) |
| No. of females | 52 (74%) | MPQ – Pain Rating Index: 0 to 78 | 17.5 (9.7) |
| Time from first symptoms to recruitment in years | 16.3 (11.7) | Tender joint count: 0 to 50 | 15.0 (11.2) |
| Time from diagnosis to recruitment in years | 14.7 (11.7) | Swollen joint count: 0 to 50 | 10.3 (11.1) |
| Employment status | Disease activity VAS: 0 to 100 | 52.7 (23.1) | |
| No. retired | 40 (57%) | HAQ – Disability Index: 0 to 3 | 1.35 (0.67) |
| No. in paid employment | 18 (26%) | Arthritis Helplessness Index: 5 to 30 | 16.7 (3.4) |
| Education | Joints affected by pain or swelling † | ||
| No. with post-school education | 20 (29%) | No. fingers / thumbs | 63 (90%) |
| No. with degree or equivalent qualification | 8 (11%) | No. wrists | 49 (70%) |
| Previous use of CAM | No. shoulders | 42 (60%) | |
| No. who had ever tried a magnetic bracelet | 15 (21%) | No. knees | 42 (60%) |
| No. who had ever tried a copper bracelet | 29 (41%) | No. toes | 40 (57%) |
| Other therapies: 0 to 15* | 1.46 (1.93) | No. ankles | 37 (53%) |
| No. who had ever tried acupuncture | 23 (33%) | No. elbows | 27 (39%) |
Values are means (SD) unless otherwise indicated.
*Mean total (SD) of other therapies tried previously from a list of 15 common forms of complementary or alternative medicine (CAM). Most commonly used other form of CAM listed underneath.
†
Determined from self-assessed swollen and tender joint counts at recruitment.