Cost-effectiveness of Transforaminal epidural steroid injections for patients with ACUTE sciatica: a randomized controlled trial

Table 1 Baseline variables of included patients

	Control group – Usual care (n = 45)	Intervention group 1 Usual care + TESI (n = 46)	Intervention group 2 Usual care + TEI (n = 50)
Participant’s characteristics
Female- no. (%)	19 (42.2)	26 (56.5)	25 (50.0)
Age- years (SD)	49.2 (12.5)	45.7 (12.9)	48.4 (13.8)
BMI (SD)	26.2 (4.5)	26.4 (5.0)	27.3 (5.6)
Vascular risk factors- no. (%)*	11 (24.4)	13(28.2)	16(32.0)
Education level^a- no. (%)
- low	9 (20.0)	9 (19.6)	13 (26.0)
- moderate	24 (53.3)	23 (50.0)	25 (50.0)
- high	12(26.7)	14 (30.4)	12 (24.0)
Married or with a partner- no. (%)	35 (77.8)	28 (60.9)	36 (72.0)
Having a paid job- no. (%)	41 (91.1)	43 (93.5)	45 (90.0)
Primary outcomes*
Leg pain intensity score^b - mean(SD)	7.3 (2.0)	7.8 (1.8)	7.7 (1.9)
Back pain intensity score^b- mean (SD)	5.3 (3.1)	5.9 (2.7)	5.8 (3.0)
Physical functioning^c- mean (SD)	17.5 (3.1)	18.2 (4.2)	16.6 (4.6)
Secondary outcomes*
Health-related quality of life^d- mean (SD)	0.74 (0.07)	0.71 (0.07)	0.73 (0.07)

Usual care Oral medication: TESI Transforaminal Epidural Steroid Injection: TEI Transforaminal Epidural Injection
*n = 136
^aLow includes preschool, primary school, or lower secondary school; moderate includes higher secondary school or undergraduate; high includes tertiary, university, or postgraduate
^bLeg pain and back pain intensity were measured by means of the numerical pain rating scale (NRS), whereby patients were asked to measure their average pain over the previous 24 hours on a 0–10 scale, with 0 indicating no pain and 10 indicating the worst imaginable pain
^cThe extent of physical functioning was measured on the Roland Disability Scale of Sciatica (scores ranging from 0 to 23, with higher scores indicating greater physical functioning)
^dHealth-related quality of life was assessed using the Euroqol 5- dimensions - 3 levels (EQ-5D-3L) and converted to utility values ranging from 0 (equal to death) to 1 (equal to full health) using the Dutch tariff

ISSN: 1471-2474