People with neck pain in Hull and High Wycombe to take part in clinical trial
Around 150 people with neck pain in Hull and High Wycombe are to be recruited into a new clinical trial which aims to find out the best way of treating it.
Neck pain is extremely common, and also difficult to treat. Now Professor Jennifer Klaber-Moffett, deputy director of the Institute of Rehabilitation at the University of Hull, and Sionnadh McLean, superintendent physiotherapist at the Hull and East Riding Hospitals NHS Trust, have been awarded a grant of £62,781 by the Arthritis Research Campaign to carry out a randomised controlled trial to test whether specially designed exercises are more effective than physiotherapy.
Patients in the physiotherapy departments of Hull Royal Infirmary, the Princess Royal Hospital, Castle Hill Hospital in Cottingham, and Wycombe General Hospital in High Wycombe will take part in the GETUP trial, which aims to reduce pain, improve strength and reduce disability.
"Neck pain results in great cost to the individual, to the NHS, and to society," explained Professor Klaber-Moffett. "Neck and shoulder exercises, incorporating postural control and co-ordination to encourage the use of the deep neck muscles, is a potential way of treating neck pain. But this approach is not commonly used in physiotherapy departments. Sionnadh McLean has developed this specific exercise programme which she has taught other physiotherapists.
"The evidence to support the use of a neck exercise programme is generally of poor quality, and therefore it's difficult to know whether these sort of exercise are helpful or not. That's what we intend to find out with this trial."
Patients enrolled onto the trial will be split into two groups. Group one will attend graded exercise classes run by a physiotherapist where they will be given a specially deigned programme of exercises for the neck and shoulders. They will attend twice a week for six weeks. Patients in group two will have sessions of physiotherapy, which may include manual therapy, nerve and muscle treatment, applications such as heat, ice or ultrasound, and individual exercise.
Many different individual factors can influence the outcome of treatment. These include fear and avoidance of movement, anxiety and depression, and social factors. The project will allow these factors to be studied too.
Professor Klaber Moffett has already run five similar trials, and the Arthritis Research Campaign (arc) is currently funding her to run a separate, three-year trial into the effectiveness of two different types of physiotherapy on neck and back pain.
