After baseline measurements, participants, who met the
inclusion criteria, were randomly allocated to one of the
study arms by a third person remote allocation system.
The allocation of participants to the study arm was determined
by a random number list generated by another
researcher who had had no contact with, or access to,
recruited participants. PC generated and sent a random
list to the independent researcher; the primary researcher
(AH) contacted the independent researcher
when each participant was recruited. Outcome assessments
(post-treatment & three month follow-up) were
made by an independent researcher masked to the participants’
allocation. The allocation sequence was concealed
until participants were assigned to either arm of
the study, but the researcher and participants were not
blinded to allocation thereafter.