Table 2: Summary of VAS scores for all participants.

Baseline 6 months 12 months p-value1
Back pain VAS, mean (SD)
All 81.7 (15.2) 40.9 (26.3) 44.1 (22.9) <0.0001
Smokers
Non-smokers
p-value
81.5 (17.5)
81.9 (13.0)
0.96
46.3 (27.6)
34.8 (25.0)
0.39
55.3 (16.7)
31.4 (23.3)
0.04
0.004
0.002
BMI
<30
>30
p-value

83.2 (16.9)
79.0 (12.3)
0.54

45.2 (30.8)
34.7 (18.4)
0.40

41.8 (26.0)
47.7 (18.9)
0.62

0.004
0.008
Leg pain VAS, mean (SD)
All 63.6 (29.2) 34.4 (33.3) 27.7 (26.8) 0.001
Smokers
Non-smokers
p-value
71.3 (25.3)
54.1 (32.2)
0.21
40.8 (34.7)
27.1 (29.5)
0.39
35.1 (28.0)
19.3 (24.7)
0.26
0.01
0.02
BMI
<30
>30
p-value

65.7 (30.0)
59.6 (29.3)
0.67

44.1 (34.0)
20.4 (25.2)
0.11

34.4 (27.1)
17.7 (25.3)
0.25

0.03
0.02

1 Student’s t-test: baseline vs. 12 mos
VAS: visual analog scale
SD: standard deviation
BMI: body mass index