In an among-group comparison, the one-way ANOVA was used to determine whether the three treatment groups differed in mean values of change from a baseline in VAS assessing pain and stiffness, Lequesne's functional index, as well as time for climbing up ten steps at the end of each week. Similarly, the mean values of VAS of the physician's and patient's overall opinions on improvement among the three groups at each particular time point were compared using the same test. When any statistical significance occurred between any of the three groups, the least significant difference (LSD) test was used to demonstrate statistical significance between each of the two groups. Differences among the treatment groups in number of patients considered as responders were evaluated by chi-square or Fisher's exact test.