Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2022 May 21;23(1):425.
doi: 10.1186/s13063-022-06340-7.

Effectiveness of multimodal exercises integrated with cognitive-behavioral therapy in working patients with chronic neck pain: protocol of a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up

M Monticone  1   2 , S Simone Vullo  3   4 , L I Lecca  1   5 , F Meloni  1 , I Portoghese  1 , M Campagna  1
Affiliations

Effectiveness of multimodal exercises integrated with cognitive-behavioral therapy in working patients with chronic neck pain: protocol of a randomized controlled trial with 1-year follow-up

M Monticone et al. Trials. .

Abstract

Background: The etiology of neck pain is multifactorial and includes personal and work-related factors such as age, sex, wrong postures, and repeated strains. Studies based on bio-psychosocial model also link chronic neck pain to psychological factors. Over time, the use of multidisciplinary interventions for chronic neck pain has grown in order to improve disability, pain, and adaptive cognitions and behaviors towards patients' problems. The objective is to evaluate the effectiveness of an individual-based multidisciplinary rehabilitation program that integrates cognitive-behavioral therapy focused on kinesiophobia with specific exercises in the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain, employed in different working activities.

Methods: A randomized, parallel-group superiority-controlled trial will be conducted with 1-year follow-up. One hundred seventy patients engaged in several working activities (blue collar and white collar workers) will be randomly allocated to either the experimental (receiving a multidisciplinary rehabilitation program combining multimodal exercises with psychologist-lead cognitive-behavioral therapy sessions) or the control group (receiving general care physiotherapy). Both groups will follow individual-based programs once a week for 10 weeks. The main outcome measures will be the Neck Disability Index, the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale, a pain numerical rating scale, the Short-Form Health Survey, and the Work Ability Index. Participants will be evaluated before, after training, and after 12 months.

Discussion: Findings may provide empirical evidence on the effectiveness of an individual-based multidisciplinary rehabilitation program on inducing clinically significant and long-term improvements in the disability, pain, psychological factors, and quality of life of workers with chronic neck pain and that these would be maintained in the long term. Hence, this trial might contribute towards refining guidelines for good clinical practice and might be used as a basis for health authorities' recommendations.

Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04768790 . Registered on 24 February 2021.

Keywords: Chronic neck pain; Cognitive-behavioral therapy; Randomized controlled trial; Rehabilitation; Task-oriented exercises.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that they have no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Schedule of enrolment, interventions, and assessments. NDI, Neck Disability Index; TSK, Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia; PCS, Pain Catastrophizing Scale; NRS, Numerical Rating Scale; SF-36, Short-Form Health Survey Questionnaire; WAI, Work Ability Index
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Haldeman S, Carroll LJ, Cassidy JD, Schubert J, Nygren A. The Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders. Executive summary. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2008;33(Suppl):S5–S7. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181643f40. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Guzman J, Hurwitz EL, Carroll LJ, Haldeman S, Côté P, Carragee EJ, et al. A new conceptual model of neck pain. The Bone and Joint Decade 2000–2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders. Spine (Phila Pa 1976) 2008;33(Suppl):S14–S23. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181643efb. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Hurwitz EL, Randhawa K, Yu H, Côté P, Haldeman S. The Global Spine Care Initiative: a summary of the global burden of low back and neck pain studies. Eur Spine J. 2018;27(Suppl 6):796–801. doi: 10.1007/s00586-017-5432-9. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Milhem M, Kalichman L, Ezra D, Alperovitch-Najenson D. Work-related musculoskeletal disorders among physical therapists: a comprehensive narrative review. Int J Occup Med Environ Health. 2016;29(5):735–747. doi: 10.13075/ijomeh.1896.00620. - DOI - PubMed
    1. Lietz J, Kozak A, Nienhaus A. Prevalence and occupational risk factors of musculoskeletal diseases and pain among dental professionals in Western countries: a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. PLoS One. 2018;13(12):e0208628. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0208628. - DOI - PMC - PubMed

Publication types

Associated data