used complementary and alternative therapies
during the study period, experienced menstrual irregularities,
or had infectious diseases involving fever were
excluded from the study. However, the heat patch group
and the control group were advised not to take analgesics
during the study period.
A power analysis was used to determine the sample size
before the investigation. The average pain severity score
was extrapolated to be 1.51; therefore, a minimum of 50
participants per group was necessary to achieve a power of
81% (1-ß) with an alpha of .05