Clinical and Brain Activity Assessment Before and After Physiotherapy in People With Chronic Non-specific Neck Pain

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Manual physiotherapy and neck-specific exercise programme: The physiotherapy intervention will consist of six weekly sessions combining manual physiotherapy and a neck-specific exercise programme. Manual physiotherapy will include passive mobilisations of the cervical and thoracic spine and soft tissue techniques. The exercise programme will include daily home exercises targeting cervical mobility and neuromuscular control, including neck flexor and neck extensor training. The intervention is based on the protocol described by Villanueva-Ruiz et al. (2025).

Study summary

The goal of this clinical trial is to investigate whether electroencephalographic features are associated with the multidimensional clinical characteristics of adults with chronic non-specific neck pain and whether clinical and brain function measures change following physiotherapy. Participants with chronic non-specific neck pain will receive six weekly treatment sessions consisting of a manual physiotherapy and neck-specific exercise programme, including a home exercise programme. Clinical, psychophysical, and 64-channel electroencephalographic assessments will be performed at baseline and approximately one week after completion of the intervention. Clinical outcomes will also be reassessed 12 weeks after the last treatment session. Electroencephalographic recordings will be obtained while participants are seated comfortably and instructed to remain relaxed. EEG-derived measures will be examined in relation to pain intensity, neck-related disability, psychological and cognitive-affective factors, sleep quality, and psychophysical pain responses. Healthy participants without chronic neck pain will undergo a comparable baseline assessment to provide reference data for the interpretation of brain function in the clinical group.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Global Rating of Change (GROC) scale — Post-intervention (approximately 1 week after treatment completion and 12 weeks after the last treatment session)
  It is a single-item patient-reported outcome that aims to quantify a patient's perceived improvement or deterioration over time. The questionnaire is scored with 7 positive items to assess the patient's subjective improvement progressively. It also presents 7 negative items to assess whether the patient has worsened. The 0 is defined as no improvement or worsening.

Trial sites (1)

Other trials for the same condition