Table 1.

Baseline characteristics of the study participants.

	Placebo	TCM	P -value
	(n = 14)	(n = 28)
Age	60.14 ± 10.44	58.36 ± 10.48	0.605
Gender	0.333
Women	13(92.86%)	28(100%)
Height (cm)	156.40 ± 6.25	157.20 ± 5.74	0.687
Weight (kg)	58.79 ± 6.82	53.21 ± 8.08	0.033*
BMI	23.98 ± 2.08	21.52 ± 2.96	0.008*
SBP (mmHg)	120.90 ± 13.81	120.60 ± 14.32	0.945
DBP (mmHg)	73.71 ± 8.96	72.64 ± 9.39	0.725
MBP (mmHg)	89.45 ± 9.83	88.63 ± 10.08	0.803
Biochemistry
ESR(mm/h)	18.5(15)	24(22.5)	0.225
Hs-CRP(mg/dl)	0.04(0.2)	0.05(0.08)	0.592
GPT(IU/L)	21.5(7)	19(7)	0.676
CK (IU/L)	93(63)	83.5(48.5)	0.92
Creatinine (mg/dl)	0.72(0.19)	0.71(0.2)	0.65
RF(IU/ml)	20(0)	20(6.7)	0.432
C3(mg/dl)	96.15 ± 12.97	92.84 ± 16.84	0.523
C4(mg/dl)	20.94 ± 3.62	18.52 ± 4.15	0.071
IgG (mg/dl)	1,370(300)	1,505(485)	0.303
IgA(mg/dl)	297 ± 159.6	282.3 ± 107.2	0.726
anti-SSA	0.832
Negative	6(42.86%)	13(46.43%)
Positive	8(57.14%)	15(53.57%)
anti-SSB	0.619
Negative	10(71.43%)	22(78.57%)
Positive	4(28.57%)	6(21.43%)
ESSPRI	5.98 ± 1.12	6.24 ± 1.31	0.528
Severity of dryness during the last 2 weeks	6.50 ± 1.79	7.11 ± 1.40	0.234
Severity of fatigue during the last 2 weeks	6.07 ± 1.82	6.36 ± 1.89	0.643
Severity of pain during the last 2 weeks	5.36 ± 1.98	5.25 ± 2.22	0.88
(Joint or muscular pains in Arms or legs)
ESSDAI	0.00(2.00)	0.00(1.00)	0.703
PGA	5.95(2.00)	6.00(2.00)	0.52
VAS	5.00(3.00)	5.75(3.50)	0.735
PSQI Score	10.57 ± 5.03	11.25 ± 4.27	0.65
SF36
Physical functioning	82.5(25)	67.5(30)	0.208
Role-physical	87.5(100)	25(100)	0.142
Bodily pain	62(18)	62(11)	0.148
General health	45(20)	32.5(27.5)	0.055
Vitality	52.86 ± 20.64	42.32 ± 17.87	0.1
Social functioning	87.5(37.5)	75(31.25)	0.29
Role-emotional	50(100)	66.67(83.33)	0.569
Mental health	56 ± 24.66	52 ± 20.57	0.581

The meaning of bold values indicated that ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.06. The meaning of

^*indicated that ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.06.