Effectiveness of six-step complex decongestive therapy for treating upper limb lymphedema after breast cancer surgery

Table 3 Comparison of the number of cases with subjective relief of affected limb symptoms between the two groups

Time	Group		Tightness	Pain	Numbness	Stiffness	Limited swelling	Shoulder movement
Before treatment (0 time)	Control group (n = 50)	yes	49	13	20	15	50	8
		no	1	37	30	35	0	42
	Experimental group (n = 50)	yes	50	11	23	17	50	10
		no	0	39	27	33	0	40
	χ2		——	0.219	0.367	0.184	——	0.271
	P		> 0.999b	0.640a	0.545a	0.668a	1.000c	0.603a
Post-treatment (20 times)	Control group (n = 50)	yes	10	3	5	4	18	3
		no	40	47	45	46	32	47
	Experimental group (n = 50)	yes	2	1	1	3	4	1
		no	48	49	49	47	46	49
	χ2		6.061	——	——	——	11.422	——
	P		0.014a	0.617b	0.204b	> 0.999b	0.001a	0.617b

^aThe difference between the two groups was analyzed by χ² test;

^bThe difference between the two groups was analyzed by Fisher exact probability method;

^cSince the limited swelling was a constant, no statistics were calculated.