Pain in the neck study at Keele awarded major grant
PEOPLE in the West Midlands suffering from pain in the neck will have the chance to take part in a major clinical trial at Keele University, aimed at identifying the best and most effective treatment.
Keele physiotherapist Dr Krysia Dziedzic has been awarded a three-year grant of nearly £120,000 by leading medical research charity the Arthritis Research Campaign, to help carry out the study. The research proposal was developed by physiotherapists in the West Midlands.
Dr Dziedzic, a senior research fellow at Keele University's department of physiotherapy studies, will recruit 350 people suffering from neck pain in the West Midlands.
They will then take part in a randomised controlled trial aimed at testing the effectiveness of three types of pain relief – advice and exercises, manual therapy, and pulsed shortwave electrotherapy.
"Neck pain is a common and disabling complaint, and patients are often referred for physiotherapy which may include advice, exercises, electrotherapy and manual therapy," explained Dr Dziedzic.
"There is still little evidence for the benefit of these approaches, alone or in combination, because large studies of good quality have not been performed by phyiotherapists. Our study will recruit people from up to 20 physiotherapy departments, and we hope to show which forms of treatment are the most effective for the greatest number of people. The end result could have a huge benefit for people suffering from this painful condition."
The ARC currently spends more than £16m a year on funding research into arthritis and all forms of disease. As well as funding work by doctors and scientists, it is also increasingly providing cash for research projects carried out by nurses and other health care professionals.
