Participants and baseline data
In total, 270 participants were included in the study, of which 95 were males and 175 were females. The dropout rate was 8.1% (22 patients), including seven patients who were lost to follow-up due to several reasons (Flowchart for participants and dropouts in the trial. Adapted from CONSORT.At baseline, the gender distribution for the 248 patients was 84 (33.9%) males and 164 (66.1%) females. A similar distribution was also seen between the three intervention groups (Distribution of sex, age, and health conditions between the groups at baseline.