Table 3.
Unadjusted distribution of physical activity and pain outcomes at baseline and 3-year follow-up: COMMUNICATE Study
| Control | Intervention | P valuea | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All | Group A | Group FM | Group AFM | |||
| Overall regular physical activityb, n | ||||||
| At baseline | 573 (64.5) | 1745 (63.0) | 614 (66.6) | 526 (58.3) | 605 (64.0) | 0.40 |
| At 3 year | 439 (61.8) | 1380 (61.9) | 481 (63.4) | 416 (60.1) | 483 (62.0) | |
| Total walking time, mins/week | ||||||
| Median (IQR) at baseline | 60 (0–210) | 60 (0–200) | 80 (0–210) | 60 (0–180) | 60 (0–200) | 0.53 |
| Median (IQR) at 3 year | 60 (0–200) | 60 (0–210) | 90 (0–235) | 40 (0–180) | 60 (0–185) | |
| ≥150, n at baseline | 311 (37.7) | 914 (36.4) | 319 (38.1) | 282 (34.1) | 313 (37.0) | |
| ≥150, n at 3 year | 222 (33.8) | 700 (34.6) | 260 (37.9) | 207 (32.5) | 233 (33.4) | |
| Flexibility activity daily, n | ||||||
| At baseline | 253 (24.4) | 772 (23.8) | 276 (25.9) | 214 (19.8) | 282 (25.8) | 0.45 |
| At 3 year | 175 (22.0) | 603 (24.6) | 213 (26.1) | 183 (23.6) | 207 (24.0) | |
| Muscle-strengthening activity, days/week | ||||||
| Median (IQR) at baseline | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 1 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 0.99 |
| Median (IQR) at 3 year | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–4) | 0 (0–3) | 0 (0–3) | |
| ≥2, n at baseline | 348 (38.0) | 1080 (37.7) | 390 (40.9) | 310 (33.1) | 380 (39.2) | |
| ≥2, n at 3 year | 257 (32.8) | 862 (35.8) | 306 (38.3) | 250 (32.8) | 306 (36.1) | |
| Median (IQR) VAS pain score | ||||||
| Shoulder at baseline | 20 (0–48) | 22 (0–48) | 22 (0–49) | 22 (0–48) | 20 (0–48) | 0.35 |
| Shoulder at 3 year | 11 (0–41) | 14 (0–43) | 13 (0–41) | 17 (0–47) | 12 (0–43) | |
| Low back at baseline | 5 (0–32) | 8 (0–36) | 8 (0–36) | 9 (0–37) | 7 (0–32) | 0.11 |
| Low back at 3 year | 4 (0–27) | 4 (0–29) | 4 (0–28) | 5 (0–30) | 3 (0–29) | |
| Knee at baseline | 0 (0–7) | 0 (0–13) | 0 (0–15) | 0 (0–11) | 0 (0–12) | 0.067 |
| Knee at 3 year | 0 (0–9) | 0 (0–13) | 0 (0–12) | 0 (0–14) | 0 (0–12) | |
| Chronic musculoskeletal pain | ||||||
| Shoulder at baseline | 158 (15.3) | 554 (17.4) | 176 (16.6) | 203 (19.4) | 175 (16.3) | 0.11 |
| Shoulder at 3 year | 157 (19.7) | 436 (17.8) | 145 (18.0) | 156 (20.0) | 135 (15.7) | |
| Low back at baseline | 133 (13.0) | 441 (14.0) | 145 (13.9) | 150 (14.4) | 146 (13.8) | 0.43 |
| Low back at 3 year | 108 (13.6) | 369 (15.0) | 114 (14.0) | 124 (15.8) | 131 (15.1) | |
| Knee at baseline | 95 (9.1) | 360 (11.2) | 115 (10.8) | 122 (11.4) | 123 (11.4) | 0.062 |
| Knee at 3 year | 87 (11.0) | 334 (13.6) | 122 (15.0) | 99 (12.6) | 113 (13.3) | |
Group A = aerobic activity; Group FM = flexibility and muscle-strengthening activities; Group AFM = aerobic, flexibility, and muscle-strengthening activities; IQR = interquartile range; VAS = visual analog scale. Figures are numbers (percentages) before imputation of missing values unless stated otherwise. Sample sizes (denominators) vary due to missing values
aBaseline comparison between control and intervention groups using the chi-square test for binary variables and Mann–Whitney U-test for categorical and continuous variables with non-normal distribution
bEngagement in regular aerobic, flexibility, and/or muscle-strengthening activities. If respondents met any one of the following three conditions, the respondents were defined as “engaging in regular physical activity”: (1) engaging in 150 mins/week or more of walking, (2) engaging in daily flexibility activity, or (3) engaging 2 or more days/week in muscle-strengthening activities