Characteristic Acupuncture group I (n=25) Homeopathy group II (n=25) Controls group III (n = 25)   Before After P Value Before After P Value Before After P value   Mean ± S.D Mean ± S.D Mean ± S.D Mean ± S.D Mean ± S.D Mean ± S.D VAS 9.38±0.81 2.74 ± 0.98 <0.001 9.66±0.62 5.16 ± 0.79 <0.001 9.50±0.50 8.90 ± 1.03 >0.05 WOMAC Total 43.40±0.49 25.04±0.62 <0.001 44.20±0.41 34.00±0.99 <0.001 43.28±0.50 41.81±0.93 >0.05 WOMAC Pain 12.82±0.51 4.72 ± 0.62 <0.001 13.52±0.51 8.04 ± 0.99 <0.001 13.02±0.51 12.06±0.93 >0.05 WOMAC stiffness 4.64±0.49 0.35 ± 0.62 <0.001 4.42±0.41 2.06 ± 0.99 <0.001 4.30±0.50 4.06 ± 0.93 >0.05 WOMAC physical function 26.08±0.70 20.16±0.62 <0.001 26.58±0.64 24.92±0.99 <0.001 25.94±0.62 25.88±0.93 >0.05 HAQ score 2.01 ± 0.28 0.94 ± 0.45 <0.001 1.80 ± 0.00 1.68 ± 0.48 0.003 1.98 ± 0.00 1.84 ± 0.37 0.051 Knee circumference 45.88±1.97 45.19±1.90 <0.001 45.51±1.82 45.30±1.89 0.054 44.40±3.23 44.27±3.09 0.052

Table 3: Comparison between the means of the studied parameters (before and after treatment) of the studied groups. Data are expressed as mean ± standard deviation. VAS: Visual Analogue Scale for pain; WOMAC: Western Ontario and McMaster University Osteoarthritis Index; HAQ: Health Assessment Questionnaire.