People seeking treatment for a new episode of neck pain typically have rapid improvement in symptoms: an observational study

Abstract

Question: What is the clinical course of a new episode of non-specific neck pain in people who are treated with multimodal physical therapies in a primary care setting?

Design: Observational study with 3-month follow-up, run in conjunction with a randomised trial.

Participants: 181 adults who consulted a physiotherapist or chiropractor for a new episode of nonspecific neck pain.

Outcome measures: Time to recover from the episode of neck pain, time to recover normal activity, and pain and neck-related disability at three months. Clinical and demographic characteristics were investigated as potential predictors of recovery.

Results: Within 3 months, 53% of participants reported complete recovery from the episode of neck pain. On a scale from 0 (none) to 10 (worst), pain improved from 6.1 (SD 2.0) at baseline to 2.5 (SD 2.1) at 2 weeks and to 1.5 (SD 1.8) at 3 months. On a scale from 0 (none) to 50 (worst), disability improved from 15.5 (SD 7.4) at baseline to 5.4 (SD 6.4) at 3 months. Faster recovery was independently associated with better self-rated general health, shorter duration of symptoms, being a smoker, and absence of concomitant upper back pain or headache. Higher disability at 3 months was independently associated with higher disability at baseline, concomitant upper or lower back pain, older age, and previous sick leave for neck pain.

Conclusion: People who seek physical treatments for a new episode of neck pain in this primary care setting typically have high pain scores that improve rapidly after commencing treatment. Although almost half of those who seek treatment do not recover completely within three months, residual pain and disability in this group is relatively low. Physiotherapists should reassure people with a new episode of neck pain that rapid improvement in symptoms is common, modifying this advice where applicable based on risk factors.