Table 1 Time point of each assessment index
Time point | Study period | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Enrolment | Active treatment (post-allocation) | Follow-up | |||||
0 W | 1W | 2W | 4W | 6W | 2M | ||
May to August 2021 | September 2021 | November 2021 | |||||
Screening and enrolment | |||||||
Eligibility screen RPTs | ✓ | ||||||
Informed consent | ✓ | ||||||
Eligibility screen face to face to blinded evaluator | ✓ | ||||||
Allocation principal investigator | ✓ | ||||||
Interventions | |||||||
Electrical dry needling (experimental group) | 1 times per week | ||||||
Conventional physical therapy (control group) | 1 times per week | ||||||
Assessments | |||||||
Demographic variables: Age, gender, education, occupational and marital status | ✓ | ||||||
Clinical presentation of TrPs: Location Interrogation Worsens Improvement | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||
Clinical variables: RMDQ ODI SF-36 VAS TSK PSQI HADS McQuade Test Fingertip-to-floor Spinal Mouse® Algometry | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ||||