Chronic Pain

Prediction of Pain Outcomes in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Dose-response of Spinal Manipulation for the Care of Chronic Low Back Pain

By Frank M. Painter|November 21, 2015|Chronic Pain, Low Back Pain|

Prediction of Pain Outcomes in a Randomized Controlled Trial of Dose-response of Spinal Manipulation for the Care of Chronic Low Back Pain

SOURCE: BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2015 (Aug 19); 16: 205 ~ FULL TEXT

Darcy Vavrek, Mitchell Haas, Moni Blazej Neradilek, and Nayak Polissar

University of Western States,
2900 NE 132nd Ave,
Portland, OR, 97230, USA

BACKGROUND: No previous studies have created and validated prediction models for outcomes in patients receiving spinal manipulation for care of chronic low back pain (cLBP). We therefore conducted a secondary analysis alongside a dose-response, randomized controlled trial of spinal manipulation.

METHODS: We investigated dose, pain and disability, sociodemographics, general health, psychosocial measures, and objective exam findings as potential predictors of pain outcomes utilizing 400 participants from a randomized controlled trial. Participants received 18 sessions of treatment over 6-weeks and were followed for a year. Spinal manipulation was performed by a chiropractor at 0, 6, 12, or 18 visits (dose), with a light-massage control at all remaining visits. Pain intensity was evaluated with the modified von Korff pain scale (0-100). Predictor variables evaluated came from several domains: condition-specific pain and disability, sociodemographics, general health status, psychosocial, and objective physical measures. Three-quarters of cases (training-set) were used to develop 4 longitudinal models with forward selection to predict individual “responders” (≥50% improvement from baseline) and future pain intensity using either pretreatment characteristics or post-treatment variables collected shortly after completion of care. The internal validity of the predictor models were then evaluated on the remaining 25% of cases (test-set) using area under the receiver operating curve (AUC), R(2), and root mean squared error (RMSE).

RESULTS: The pretreatment responder model performed no better than chance in identifying participants who became responders (AUC = 0.479). Similarly, the pretreatment pain intensity model predicted future pain intensity poorly with low proportion of variance explained (R(2) = .065). The post-treatment predictor models performed better with AUC = 0.665 for the responder model and R(2) = 0.261 for the future pain model. Post-treatment pain alone actually predicted future pain better than the full post-treatment predictor model (R(2) = 0.350). The prediction errors (RMSE) were large (19.4 and 17.5 for the pre- and post-treatment predictor models, respectively).

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Low Back Pain in Primary Care: A Description of 1250 Patients

By Frank M. Painter|October 17, 2015|Chiropractic Care, Chronic Pain, Low Back Pain|

Low Back Pain in Primary Care: A Description of 1250 Patients with Low Back Pain in Danish General and Chiropractic Practice

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Int J Family Med. 2014 (Nov 4); 2014: 106102 ~ FULL TEXT

Lise Hestbaek, Anders Munck, Lisbeth Hartvigsen,
Dorte Ejg Jarbøl, Jens Søndergaard, and Alice Kongsted

Department of Sports Science and Clinical Biomechanics,
University of Southern Denmark,
5230 Odense, Denmark
l.hestbaek@nikkb.dk

Study Design. Baseline description of a multicenter cohort study.

Objective. To describe patients with low back pain (LBP) in both chiropractic and general practice in Denmark.

Background. To optimize standards of care in the primary healthcare sector, detailed knowledge of the patient populations in different settings is needed. In Denmark, most LBP-patients access primary healthcare through chiropractic or general practice.

Methods. Chiropractors and general practitioners recruited adult patients seeking care for LBP. Extensive baseline questionnaires were obtained and descriptive analyses presented separately for general and chiropractic practice patients, Mann-Whitney rank sum test and Pearson’s chi-square test, were used to test for differences between the two populations.

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Prognostic Factors for Recurrences in Neck Pain Patients Up to 1 Year After Chiropractic Care

By Frank M. Painter|September 28, 2015|Chronic Pain, Neck Pain|

Prognostic Factors for Recurrences in Neck Pain Patients Up to 1 Year After Chiropractic Care

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SOURCE: J Manipulative Physiol Ther. 2015 (Sep 15 ~ FULL TEXT

Anke Langenfeld, MS, B. Kim Humphreys, DC, PhD,
Jaap Swanenburg, PhD, Cynthia K. Peterson, RN, DC, MMedEd, PhD

PhD Student,
CAPHRI School of Public Health and Primary Care,
Department of Epidemiology,
Maastricht University,
Maastricht, The Netherlands

OBJECTIVE: Information about recurrence and prognostic factors is important for patients and practitioners to set realistic expectations about the chances of full recovery and to reduce patient anxiety and uncertainty. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess recurrence and prognostic factors for neck pain in a chiropractic patient population at 1 year from the start of the current episode.

METHODS: Within a prospective cohort study, 642 neck pain patients were recruited by chiropractors in Switzerland. After a course of chiropractic therapy, patients were followed up for 1 year regarding recurrence of neck pain. A logistic regression analysis was used to assess prognostic factors for recurrent neck pain. The independent variables age, pain medication usage, sex, work status, duration of complaint, previous episodes of neck pain and trauma onset, numerical rating scale, and Bournemouth questionnaire for neck pain were analyzed. Prognostic factors that have been identified in previous studies to influence recovery of neck pain are psychologic distress, poor general health at baseline, and a previous history of pain elsewhere.

RESULTS: Five hundred forty five patients (341 females), with a mean age of 42.1 years (SD, 13.1) completed the 1-year follow-up period. Fifty-four participants (11%) were identified as “recurrent.” Prognostic factors associated with recurrent neck pain were previous episodes of neck pain and increasing age.

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Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Exercise For Seniors with Chronic Neck Pain

By Frank M. Painter|March 6, 2015|Chiropractic Care, Chronic Pain, Neck Pain|

Spinal Manipulative Therapy and Exercise For Seniors with Chronic Neck Pain

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Spine J. 2014 (Sep 1); 14 (9): 1879–1889

Michele Maiers, DC, MPH, Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD,
Roni Evans, DC, MS, Jan Hartvigsen, DC, PhD,
Kenneth Svendsen, MS, Yiscah Bracha, MS,
Craig Schulz, DC, MS, Karen Schulz, DC,
Richard Grimm, MD, PhD

Northwestern Health Sciences University,
Wolfe-Harris Center for Clinical Studies,
2501 W. 84th St, Bloomington, MN 55431, USA
mmaiers@nwhealth.edu

BACKGROUND CONTEXT: Neck pain, common among the elderly population, has considerable implications on health and quality of life. Evidence supports the use of spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) and exercise to treat neck pain; however, no studies to date have evaluated the effectiveness of these therapies specifically in seniors.

PURPOSE: To assess the relative effectiveness of SMT and supervised rehabilitative exercise, both in combination with and compared to home exercise (HE) alone for neck pain in individuals ages 65 years or older.

STUDY DESIGN/SETTING: Randomized clinical trial.

PATIENT SAMPLE: Individuals 65 years of age or older with a primary complaint of mechanical neck pain, rated =3 (0-10) for 12 weeks or longer in duration.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Patient self-report outcomes were collected at baseline and 4, 12, 26, and 52 weeks after randomization. The primary outcome was pain, measured by an 11-box numerical rating scale. Secondary outcomes included disability (Neck Disability Index), general health status (Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36), satisfaction (7-point scale), improvement (9-point scale), and medication use (days per week).

METHODS: This study was funded by the US Department of Health and Human Services, Health Resources and Services Administration. Linear mixed model analyses were used for comparisons at individual time points and for short- and long-term analyses. Blinded evaluations of objective outcomes were performed at baseline and 12 weeks. Adverse event data were collected at each treatment visit.

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A Randomised Controlled Trial of Preventive Spinal Manipulation with and without a Home Exercise Program for Patients with Chronic Neck Pain

By Frank M. Painter|December 25, 2013|Chiropractic Care, Chronic Pain, Evidence-based Medicine|

A Randomised Controlled Trial of Preventive Spinal Manipulation with and without a Home Exercise Program for Patients with Chronic Neck Pain

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2011 (Feb 8); 12: 41

Johanne Martel, Claude Dugas, Jean-Daniel Dubois, and Martin Descarreaux

Département de Chiropratique,
Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières,
Trois-Rivières G9A 5H7, Canada.

Background: Evidence indicates that supervised home exercises, combined or not with manual therapy, can be beneficial for patients with non-specific chronic neck pain (NCNP). The objective of the study is to investigate the efficacy of preventive spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) compared to a no treatment group in NCNP patients. Another objective is to assess the efficacy of SMT with and without a home exercise program.

Methods: Ninety-eight patients underwent a short symptomatic phase of treatment before being randomly allocated to either an attention-group (n = 29), a SMT group (n = 36) or a SMT + exercise group (n = 33). The preventive phase of treatment, which lasted for 10 months, consisted of meeting with a chiropractor every two months to evaluate and discuss symptoms (attention-control group), 1 monthly SMT session (SMT group) or 1 monthly SMT session combined with a home exercise program (SMT + exercise group). The primary and secondary outcome measures were represented by scores on a 10-cm visual analog scale (VAS), active cervical ranges of motion (cROM), the neck disability index (NDI) and the Bournemouth questionnaire (BQ). Exploratory outcome measures were scored on the Fear-avoidance Behaviour Questionnaire (FABQ) and the SF-12 Questionnaire.

Results: Our results show that, in the preventive phase of the trial, all 3 groups showed primary and secondary outcomes scores similar to those obtain following the non-randomised, symptomatic phase. No group difference was observed for the primary, secondary and exploratory variables. Significant improvements in FABQ scores were noted in all groups during the preventive phase of the trial. However, no significant change in health related quality of life (HRQL) was associated with the preventive phase.

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Central Hypersensitivity In Chronic Pain After Whiplash Injury

By Frank M. Painter|December 1, 2013|Chronic Pain, Whiplash|

Central Hypersensitivity In Chronic Pain After Whiplash Injury

The Chiro.Org Blog

SOURCE: Clin J Pain. 2001 (Dec); 17 (4): 306–315

Curatolo M, Petersen-Felix S, Arendt-Nielsen L,
Giani C, Zbinden AM, Radanov BP.

Department of Anesthesiology,
University Hospital of Bern,
Inselspital, Switzerland

OBJECTIVE: The mechanisms underlying chronic pain after whiplash injury are usually unclear. Injuries may cause sensitization of spinal cord neurons in animals (central hypersensitivity), which results in increased responsiveness to peripheral stimuli. In humans, the responsiveness of the central nervous system to peripheral stimulation may be explored by applying sensory tests to healthy tissues. The hypotheses of this study were:

(1) chronic whiplash pain is associated with central hypersensitivity;

(2) central hypersensitivity is maintained by nociception arising from the painful or tender muscles in the neck.

DESIGN: Comparison of patients with healthy controls.

SETTING: Pain clinic and laboratory for pain research, university hospital.

PATIENTS: Fourteen patients with chronic neck pain after whiplash injury (car accident) and 14 healthy volunteers.

OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain thresholds to: single electrical stimulus (intramuscular), repeated electrical stimulation (intramuscular and transcutaneous), and heat (transcutaneous). Each threshold was measured at neck and lower limb, before and after local anesthesia of the painful and tender muscles of the neck.

RESULTS: The whiplash group had significantly lower pain thresholds for all tests. except heat, at both neck and lower limb. Local anesthesia of the painful and tender points affected neither intensity of neck pain nor pain thresholds.

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