Trained research staff collected demographic and clinical
data. Outcome data were collected June to October 2011.
Outcome measures were patient-rated measurements. Pain
intensity as a primary outcome was measured using two
measurements: the Visual Analogue Scale for low back pain
(VAS)34,35 and the McGill Pain Questionnaire (MPQ) for musculoskeletal
pain, Thai version.36 The VAS was used before and
after each massage (immediate effectiveness). The MPQ was
used at baseline, and first (6th week) and second (15th week)
follow-up assessments (short- and long-term effectiveness).
The MPQ has three components: a set of descriptors of
sensory and affective terms, Present Pain Intensity scales
(PPI) and VAS. The secondary outcome was functional ability
which was measured using the Oswestry Disability Questionnaire
(ODQ) Thai version 1.0 for back pain, high reliability
with the Cronbach’s alpha coefficient for every question of
the questionnaire exceeding 0.7 and all inter-item correlations
exceeding 0.4.37 Pain medication use and adverse
events were monitored over the course of the study and at
the two post-intervention data collection points. No adverse
events were recorded.