2.5. Outcome Measurement
Morris Disability, pain, fatigue, Oswestry Disability
In this study, we investigated demographic factors (sex, age, height, and body weight), degree of LLRP (assessed by VAS), functional outcome (Oswestry Disability Index [ODI] and Roland–Morris Disability Questionnaire [RMDQ]), and quality of life (QoL) using the Short Form-36 (SF-36). VAS was used to determine the degree of pain reduction by evaluating the pain level perceived by the participant on a 10 cm scale (0, none; 10, most severe).The SF-36 questionnaire was used to evaluate QoL and comprised 36 questions in 9 areas: 10 questions related to physical function, 4 related to the role limitation caused by physical health, 2 related to body pain, 5 related to general health, 3 related to role limitation caused by emotional problems, 4 related to energy and fatigue, 2 related to social functioning, 5 related to emotional well-being, and 1 related to change in health status. The first four areas determine the physical component summary (PCS) and the second four determine the mental component summary (MCS).The short-term (2 weeks after treatment) and mid-term (6 and 12 weeks after treatment) treatment effects were evaluated and compared between the control and experimental groups. The compliance of the participants in the experimental group to acupuncture and manual therapy was calculated by dividing the number of acupuncture and manual therapy treatments by 12 (total times) and multiplying by 100.