Clinic-epidemiological evaluation of ulcers in patients with leprosy sequelae and the effect of low level laser therapy on wound healing: a randomized clinical trial

Table 4 Results of Analysis Comparing Outcomes: Evaluation Within Groups and Between Treatment Groups.^a

Outcome measure	Control group (n = 12)	Experimental group (n = 11)	Mean difference between groups (95% CI)	pvalue^d
Area (cm²)
Baseline	5.3 (9.2)	4.2 (5.9)	-1.08 (-6.93 to 4.75)	.70
After intervention	4.4 (8.5)	3.8 (5.7)	-0.63 (-6.10 to 4.84)	.81
Mean difference in change scores (95% CI)	0.82 (0.00 to 1.66)	0.37 (-0.77 to 1.51)
p value^c	.05	.49
Depth (mm)
Baseline	6.3 (5.4)	6.2 (5.1)	-0.08 (-4.07 to 3.90)	.96
After intervention	5.4 (5.7)	4.1 (3.9)	-1.29 (-5.00 to 2.41)	.47
Mean difference in change scores (95% CI)	0.85 (-0.40 to 2.11)	2.0 (-0.60 to 4.74)
p value^c	.16	.11
PUSH score ^b
Baseline	9.7 (3.4)	9.6 (3.3)		.96^e
After intervention	8.4 (5.3)	7.9 (5.3)		.93^e
p value^e	.09	.24

^aValues are means (SDs) unless otherwise indicated. CI = confidence interval.
^b PUSH = Pressure Ulcer Scale for Healing (ranged from 0 to 17, where 0 indicated a healed wound and 17 indicated an ulcer greater than 24 cm² in surface area, with a heavy amount of exudate and the presence of necrotic tissue).
^cAs determined by a dependent sample t test.
^dAs determined by an independent 2-sample t test.
^eAs determined by the Mann-Whitney U test.

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