All women in both groups assessed their pain on the VAS
scale at the beginning of the study and then again at weeks 4
and 8. There was no statistically significant difference between
the initial VAS scores related to LBP between the groups.
There was a statistically significant difference between the 2
groups in the change in pain scores experienced over the 8
weeks (F = 94.873; df = 2; P .001). The 33 participants in
the PMR group reported a significant reduction in pain scores
atweek 8 (P. 005). In contrast, those in the control group exhibited
increased pain scores at week 8; the increases reached
statistical significance (Table 2, Fig. 1).