Characteristics of patients included in the meta-analysis
| Trial | Age (years) | Women (%) | KL grade 3/4 (%) | Level of pain | BMI (kg/m2) | Duration of symptoms (years) | No randomised/ analysed (n) experimental control | Time of assessment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shichikawa et al25 | NA | 83 | 24.5 | 63.5 (0–100) | NA | NA | 114/96 | 114/102 | 12 weeks |
| Puhl et al26 | 61 | 64 | NA | 52.7 (mm, VAS) | 26.9 | NA | 102/95 | 107/100 | 9 weeks |
| Altman et al27 | 63 | 55 | 38.5 | 10.1 (WOMAC) | 29.9 | 6 | 173/172 | 174/174 | 13 weeks |
| Petrella and Petrella29 | 63 | 45 | 25.6 | 20.3 (WOMAC) | 30.4 | NA | 53/53 | 53/53 | 40 months |
| Lundsgaard et al30 | 69 | 55 | 36.8 | 54.5 (mm, VAS) | 29.4 | 8 | 84/81 | 84/80 | 12 weeks |
| Altman et al28 | 62 | 63 | 60.0 | 55.1 (mm, VAS) | 32.7 | NA | 293/291 | 295/295 | 12 weeks |
| Chevalier et al32 | 63 | 71 | 54.4 | 2.27 (WOMAC) | 29.3 | 6 | 124/124 | 129/129 | 12 weeks |
| Navarro-Sarabia et al31 | 64 | 84 | 27.4 | 70.4 (mm, VAS) | 28.6 | 8 | 153/149 | 153/152 | 24 weeks |
BMI, body mass index; NA, not applicable; VAS, visual analog scale; WOMAC, Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index.