A Cochrane review of patient education for neck pain.
BACKGROUND
Neck pain is common, disabling, and costly. The effectiveness of patient education strategies is unclear.


OBJECTIVE
To assess whether patient education strategies are of benefit for pain, function/disability, global perceived effect, quality of life, or patient satisfaction, in adults with neck pain with or without radiculopathy.


METHODS
Cochrane systematic review.


METHODS
Computerized bibliographic databases were searched from their start to May 31, 2008. Eligible studies were randomized trials investigating the effectiveness of patient education strategies for neck pain. Paired independent reviewers carried out study selection, data abstraction, and methodological quality assessment. Relative risk and standardized mean differences were calculated. Because of differences in intervention type or disorder, no studies were considered appropriate to pool.


RESULTS
Of the 10 selected trials, two (20%) were rated as of high quality. Patient education was assessed as follows: 1) eight trials of advice focusing on activation compared with no treatment, or to various active treatments, including therapeutic exercise, manual therapy, and cognitive behavioral therapy, showed either inferiority or no difference for pain, spanning a full range of follow-up periods, acuity and disorder types. When compared with rest, two trials that assessed acute whiplash-associated disorder showed moderate evidence of no difference for advice focusing on activation; 2) two trials studying advice focusing on pain and stress coping skills found moderate evidence of no benefit for chronic neck pain at intermediate- to long-term follow-up; and 3) one trial compared the effects of neck school to no treatment, yielding limited evidence of no benefit for pain, at intermediate-term follow-up in mixed acute/subacute/chronic neck pain.


CONCLUSIONS
This review has not shown effectiveness for educational interventions for neck pain of various acuity stages and disorder types and at various follow-up periods, including advice to activate, advice on stress coping skills, and neck school. In future research, further attention to methodological quality is necessary. Studies of multimodal interventions should consider study designs, such as factorial designs, that permit discrimination of specific educational components.
Haines
Ted
T
Department of Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, McMaster University, 1200 Main Street West, Hamilton, ON L8N 3Z5, Canada.
Gross
Anita R
AR
Burnie
Stephen
S
Goldsmith
Charles H
CH
Perry
Lenora
L
Graham
Nadine
N
D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000523:psychology* / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000379:methods*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011788:Quality of Life