Participants were mostly middle-aged, female, and
white; 51% were college graduates (Table 1). Mean scores
of 10.8 on the RDQ and 5.7 for symptom bothersomeness
indicated moderately severe back problems. Participants assigned
to relaxation massage had greater dysfunction
(RDQ score 1 point higher), but there were no other
clinically or statistically significant differences among the
groups at baseline.