Statistical analysis
All statistical tests were selected before data collection. Statistical
analyses were performed using Microsoft Excel (version 15.29, Microsoft
Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA) and Prism (version 8, GraphPad Software,
La Jolla, CA, USA). The significance level was set to p <
0.05. The assumption of normality was tested graphically using
quantile-quantile plots. If not otherwise specified, data are presented
as mean with standard deviation (SD) or absolute numbers with
percentages. A paired sample Student’s t-test was performed to compare
pre- and postoperative means in AC and BC PTA as well as ZCMEI-21 total
scores. For comparison of >2 groups, a one-way ANOVA was
performed. Following one-way ANOVA, the Holm-Sidak test was used to
compare pairs of means. If applicable, p-values represent p-values
corrected for multiple testing.