Active behavioural physiotherapy intervention for acute non-specific neck pain: a cluster randomised double-blind pilot and feasibility clinical trial.

NECK pain treatment; PHYSICAL therapy; STATISTICAL correlation; CLUSTER analysis (Statistics); RESEARCH funding; NECK pain; STATISTICAL sampling; BLIND experiment; PILOT projects; QUESTIONNAIRES; TREATMENT effectiveness; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; RANDOMIZED controlled trials; CERVICAL vertebrae; DATA analysis software; BEHAVIOR therapy; RANGE of motion of joints; MEDICAL care costs

To evaluate the feasibility of an active behavioural physiotherapy intervention (ABPI) and procedures to prevent the transition to chronicity in patients with acute non-specific neck pain (ANSNP). A cluster-randomised double-blind (assessors and participants), parallel 2-arm (ABPI versus standard physiotherapy intervention [SPI]) pilot and feasibility clinical trial was conducted owing to a pre-specified published protocol. Six public hospitals were recruited and cluster-randomised (computer-generated randomisation with block sampling). Sixty participants (30 in each arm, 10 per hospital) were assessed at baseline and 3 months following baseline for neck disability index, numerical pain rating scale, cervical range-of-motion, fear-avoidance beliefs questionnaire and EuroQol 5-dimension 5-level. All procedures worked well. The participants' median age was 36.5 (range 21–59, interquartile range: 20.75) years. Participants in the ABPI demonstrated better improvement in all outcomes compared to SPI. Furthermore, the number of fully recovered participants following ABPI (27/30, 90.00%) was higher than SPI (16/30, 53.33%) with fewer treatment sessions and lower costs of management. The findings suggest that the ABPI is feasible and valuable (e.g. a high number of fully recovered participants, fewer treatment sessions and reduced management costs compared to the SPI) in conducting a future definitive trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the ANSNP management. TCTR20180607001 An active behavioural physiotherapy intervention (ABPI) is feasible to manage acute non-specific neck pain. The ABPI demonstrated a high number of fully recovered participants, fewer treatment sessions and reduced management costs compared to the standard physiotherapy intervention. The ABPI is valuable to conduct a future definitive trial to evaluate the effectiveness of acute non-specific neck pain management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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