2.2. Setting, participation, and sampling
’, rheumatoid diseases
DISEASE, BLIND
The center the patients were recruited from is the only specialized center in our city for diagnostic and therapeutic services for patients with rheumatoid diseases and rehabilitation services. Before the inclusion of the patients in the study, the researchers obtained general information about the target population, including gender, age, BMI, disease grade, and education of patients, to ensure an appropriate and representative sample of patients in the study. The researchers attended the center twice a week for 6 months to collect data, and the required coordination was made with the clinicians for this study.The researchers attempted to recruit patients from different clinicians to have a more representative sample of the patients in this region. In addition, the researchers checked the medical and clinical information of the patients to ensure the correct diagnosis. The patients who met the eligibility criteria were assigned to 1 of the 3 groups based on random, pre-generated 3-group numbers. The total number of patients was calculated by sampling and entered into the Statistical Software for Social Sciences 25 (SPSS 25) to obtain a pre-generated 3-group number. The numbers were randomly assigned into 3 groups without giving their names. Then, the groups were randomly allocated to the patients to avoid bias. The center clinicians had no role in the intervention and measurements of outcomes and were blind to the patients’ allocations to the groups in this study.To prevent allocation bias, the patients were from different geographic areas within the Duhok province. Only 2 patients were from the same family. In this situation, we included the first diagnosed case in the determined group. The second case was given the same intervention but was not included in the study. In addition, to avoid bias, we did not give information about cryotherapy to the control group. We only obtained written consent from the patients for the applied intervention. The researchers followed up with the patients weekly at their houses.