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Table 1 Participant baseline characteristics by intervention arm and by recruitment method

From: Self-management advice, exercise and foot orthoses for plantar heel pain: the TREADON pilot and feasibility randomised trial

Key characteristics

Total sample n = 82

Treatment groups

Recruitment method

SMA n = 11

SMA-exercises n = 23

SMA-orthoses n = 24

SMA-combined n = 24

GP consultation n = 37

Medical record review n = 22

Population survey n = 23

Non-clinical characteristics

 Agea

55 (48, 67)4

56 (39, 60)

54 (51, 65)

54 (49, 70)4

55 (47, 67)

54 (47, 67)2

55 (49, 57)1

60 (48, 69)1

 Gender – malesb

36 (43.9)

5 (45.5)

11 (47.8)

10 (41.7)

10 (41.7)

14 (37.8)

8 (36.4)

14 (60.9)

 Employedb

47 (58.0)1

7 (63.6)

12 (54.6)1

14 (58.3)

14 (58.3)

24 (64.9)

12 (57.1)1

11 (47.8)

 White UK/European ethnicityb,e

40 (88.9)

8 (88.9)

11 (91.7)

9 (100)

12 (80.0)

–

21 (95.5)

19 (82.6)

 Effect of pain on work performancea,c

2 (0, 6)

6 (0, 7)

3 (0, 6)

1 (0, 4)

0 (0, 2)

1 (0, 5)

2 (0, 7)

2 (0, 3)

 Time off work past 6 monthsb,c

4 (8.5)

1 (14.3)

1 (8.3)

0 (0.0)

2 (14.3)

3 (12.5)

1 (8.3)

0 (0)

Clinical characteristics

 Average pain NRS (last 7 days)a,f

6 (4, 7)2

6 (4, 7)

5 (4, 6)1

7 (5, 8)

6 (5, 7)1

7 (6, 8)

6 (4, 7)

5 (4, 6)2

 Pain on getting out of beda

7 (5, 9)2

7 (5, 8)

7 (5, 8)1

8 (7, 10)

7 (5, 8)1

8 (7, 9)

6 (5, 8)

6 (5, 7)2

 First time heel painb

46 (58.2)3

4 (36.4)

15 (65.2)

14 (63.6)2

13 (56.5)1

26 (72.2)1

13 (61.9)1

7 (31.8)1

 Heel pain todayb

74 (90.2)

9 (81.8)

21 (91.3)

22 (91.7)

22 (91.7)

35 (94.6)

18 (81.8)

21 (91.3)

Heel(s) affectedb

 Left

23 (28.8)2

5 (45.5)

7 (31.8)1

7 (30.4)1

4 (16.7)

14 (40.0)2

2 (9.1)

7 (30.4)

 Right

24 (30.0)2

1 (9.1)

7 (31.8)1

8 (34.8)1

8 (33.3)

10 (28.6)2

9 (40.9)

5 (21.7)

 Both

33 (41.3)2

5 (45.5)

8 (36.4)1

8 (34.8)1

12 (50.0)

11 (31.4)2

11 (50.0)

11 (47.8)

Pain durationb

 < 3 months

15 (18.8)2

1 (9.1)

4 (18.2)1

5 (20.8)

5 (21.7)1

14 (38.9)1

0 (0.0)1

1 (4.4)

 3–6 months

22 (27.5)2

2 (18.2)

8 (36.4)1

5 (20.8)

7 (30.4)1

13 (36.1)1

5 (23.8)1

4 (17.4)

 6–12 months

13 (16.3)2

1 (9.1)

4 (18.2)1

5 (20.8)

3 (13.0)1

3 (8.3)1

4 (19.1)1

6 (26.1)

 > 12 months

30 (37.5)2

7 (63.6)

6 (27.3)1

9 (37.5)

8 (34.8)1

6 (16.7)1

12 (57.1)1

12 (52.2)

Ache or pain lasting one day or longer in past monthb

77 (95.1)1

11 (100.0)

21 (95.5)1

23 (95.8)

22 (91.7)

34 (91.9)

22 (100)

21 (95.5)1

FFI-Paina,g

53 (38, 67)37d

58 (44, 69)5

41 (36, 51)7

62 (38, 67)11

56 (53, 61)14

62 (41, 72)17

54 (34, 59)6

40 (34, 45)14

FFI-Disabilitya

43 (18, 57)6

35 (25, 54)1

33 (16, 47)1

48 (20, 58)2

51 (18, 62)2

49 (35, 61)3

28 (5, 58)

27 (15, 49)3

FFI-Activity Restrictiona

3 (0, 7)4

5 (2, 19)1

2 (0, 5)2

4 (0, 7)

3 (0, 5)1

4 (1, 10)1

2 (1, 6)1

2 (0, 5)2

FFI-Overalla

99 (62, 133)38

103 (86, 148)5

69 (58, 111)8

127 (66, 134)11

107 (62, 156)14

124 (75, 153)17

74 (57, 123)6

83 (64, 102)17

MFPDI-Functiona

18 (16, 22)9

19 (5, 24)1

17 (14, 22)4

19 (15, 23)2

20 (17, 22)2

20 (17, 22)1

18 (15, 21)4

16 (14, 23)4

MFPDI-Paina,h

13 (12, 16)4

13 (11, 15)1

13 (11, 14)1

15 (12, 17)2

13 (12, 16)

14 (12, 16)1

15 (11, 17)1

12 (11, 14)2

MFPDI-Personal Appearancea

3 (2, 4)30

4 (3, 5)3

4 (3, 4)9

3 (3, 4)11

3 (2, 3)7

3 (3, 4)14

3 (2, 3)7

3 (2, 4)9

MFPDI-Overalla

36 (31, 40)34

36 (30, 43)3

32 (30, 38)10

37 (33, 40)12

37 (29, 39)9

38 (32, 40)16

35 (33, 39)9

35 (28, 40)9

EQ5Da

.69 (.55, .74)4

.68 (.61, .71)1

.74 (.70, .77)1

.64 (.46, .74)2

.69 (.59, .74)

.65 (.46, .73)2

.72 (.65, .80)1

.70 (.64, .74)1

  1. aSummarised as median (interquartile range)
  2. bSummarised as number (percentage). 1–38 Numbers noted after summary statistics relate to the number of missing/ambiguous data (no number denotes complete 82 responses to that measure). For the multi-item measures item-completion numbers, the count × completed-items summary was as follows: FFI-Pain (1 × 1, 1 × 3, 4 × 6, 29 × 7, 2 × 8, 45 × 9); FFI-Disability (1 × 0, 1 × 4, 2 × 7, 2 × 8, 76 × 9); FFI-Activity Restriction (3 × 0, 1 × 2, 78 × 5); MFPDI-Function (1 × 1, 1 × 4, 1 × 6, 1 × 7, 2 × 8, 3 × 9, 73 × 10); MFPDI-Pain (1 × 0, 1 × 2, 2 × 5, 78 × 7); MFPDI-personal appearance (15 × 0, 15 × 1, 52 × 2)
  3. camong those answered ‘employed’
  4. dMissing data of FFI-Pain mainly due to non-response of two particular questions ‘When you walk with orthotic devices/insoles’ and ‘When you stand with orthotic devices/insoles’
  5. eEthnicity was assessed in the screening survey but not the baseline questionnaire (and was therefore not available for those identified by GP consultation who completed only the baseline questionnaire). Data were available for 45 participants (SMA 9, SMA-exercises 12, SMA-orthoses 9, SMA-combined 15; GP consultation 0, medical record review 22, population survey 23)
  6. fFor pain NRS, mean (SD) values were as follows: total sample, mean = 5.8 (SD 2.0; 1-sided 80%CIUL = 2.2; 1-sided 90%CIUL = 2.3; 1-sided 95%CIUL = 2.4); SMA, mean = 5.4 (SD 3.0); SMA-exercises, mean = 5.1 (SD 1.6); SMA-orthoses, mean = 6.5 (SD 2.1); SMA-combined, mean = 6.0 (SD = 1.7)
  7. gFor FFI-Pain, mean (SD) values were as follows: Total sample, mean = 50.7 (SD 17.3; 1-sided 80%CIUL = 19.1; 1-sided 90%CIUL = 20.1; 1-sided 95%CIUL = 21.0); SMA, mean = 57.0 (SD 13.6); SMA-exercises, mean = 43.7 (SD 13.4); SMA-orthoses, mean = 55.7 (SD 18.9); SMA-combined, mean = 51.5 (SD = 20.7)
  8. hFor MFPDI-Pain, mean (SD) values were as follows: total sample, mean = 13.7 (SD 2.6; 1-sided 80%CIUL = 2.9; 1-sided 90%CIUL = 3.0; 1-sided 95%CIUL = 3.1); SMA, mean = 13.4 (SD 3.0); SMA-exercises, mean = 13.0 (SD 2.3); SMA-orthoses, mean = 14.5 (SD 2.6); SMA-combined, mean = 13.8 (SD = 2.8)