Overall , as a therapeutic intervention , structured patient education was equal or less effective than other conservative treatments including massage , supervised exercise , and physiotherapy .
However , structured patient education may provide small benefits when combined with physiotherapy .
Either mode of delivery ( ie , oral or written education ) provides similar results in patients with recent WAD .
Results suggest that structured patient education alone can not be expected to yield large benefits in clinical effectiveness compared with other conservative interventions for patients with WAD or NAD .
Moreover , structured patient education may be of benefit during the recovery of patients with WAD when used as an adjunct therapy to physiotherapy or emergency room care .
These benefits are small and short lived
BACKGROUND CONTEXT In 2008 , the Bone and Joint Decade 2000 to 2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders recommended patient education for the management of neck pain .
However , the effectiveness of education interventions has recently been challenged .
PURPOSE To up date the findings of the Bone and Joint Decade 2000 to 2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders and evaluate the effectiveness of structured patient education for the management of patients with whiplash-associated disorders ( WAD ) or neck pain and associated disorders ( NAD ) .
OUTCOME MEASURES Self-rated recovery , functional recovery ( eg , disability , return to activities , work , or school ) , pain intensity , health-related quality of life , psychological outcomes such as depression or fear , or adverse effects .
A Randomized Controlled Trial of an Educational Intervention to Prevent the Chronic Pain of Whiplash Associated Disorders Following Rear-End Motor Vehicle Collisions
Study Design . Concealed allocation , multicenter , single-blind , r and omized controlled clinical trial . Objective . To assess the efficacy of an educational video in the tertiary prevention of persistent WAD symptoms following rear-end motor vehicle collisions ( MVCs ) . Summary of Background Data . Whiplash-associated disorders ( WAD ) are an important and costly health problem . There is a lack of high quality evidence surrounding efficacy of treatments for WAD . Existing research supports active interventions and early return to regular activities . Methods . Consecutive patients presenting to four tertiary care emergency departments following rear-end MVCs were eligible . Following informed consent , patients were allocated , using central r and omization , to receive an educational video plus usual care or usual care alone . The video provided reassurance , and advice about posture , return to regular activities , exercises , and pain-relief methods . Data were collected by telephone using st and ardized question naires . The primary outcome was presence of Persistent WAD Symptoms at 24 weeks postinjury , based on the frequency and severity of neck , shoulder , or upper back pain . The absolute difference in proportion of patients with persistent WAD symptoms and rate ratios were calculated . Changes in pain scores were compared using the Mann-Whitney U test . Results . The  intervention ( n = 206 ) and control ( n = 199 ) groups were similar at baseline ( mean age 38.4 years ; 64 % female ) . Overall , the proportion of subjects with Persistent WAD Symptoms decreased from 89.1 % at baseline to 33.6 % at 24 weeks after injury . At 24 weeks , the proportion of subjects with persistent WAD symptoms in the intervention group was 7.9 % ( 95 % CI , −2.0 , 17.8 ) lower than the control group . The median improvement in pain score at 24 weeks was 3 for the intervention group and 2 for the control group ( P = 0.016 ) . Conclusion . The presence of persistent WAD symptoms following simple rear-end MVCs was high in this sample . The video group demonstrated a trend toward less severe WAD symptoms . We recommend evaluating other educational interventions that could reduce WAD symptoms
Overall , as a therapeutic intervention , structured patient education was equal or less effective than other conservative treatments including massage , supervised exercise , and physiotherapy .
However , structured patient education may provide small benefits when combined with physiotherapy .
Either mode of delivery ( ie , oral or written education ) provides similar results in patients with recent WAD .
Results suggest that structured patient education alone can not be expected to yield large benefits in clinical effectiveness compared with other conservative interventions for patients with WAD or NAD .
Moreover , structured patient education may be of benefit during the recovery of patients with WAD when used as an adjunct therapy to physiotherapy or emergency room care .
These benefits are small and short lived
BACKGROUND CONTEXT In 2008 , the Bone and Joint Decade 2000 to 2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders recommended patient education for the management of neck pain .
However , the effectiveness of education interventions has recently been challenged .
PURPOSE To up date the findings of the Bone and Joint Decade 2000 to 2010 Task Force on Neck Pain and Its Associated Disorders and evaluate the effectiveness of structured patient education for the management of patients with whiplash-associated disorders ( WAD ) or neck pain and associated disorders ( NAD ) .
OUTCOME MEASURES Self-rated recovery , functional recovery ( eg , disability , return to activities , work , or school ) , pain intensity , health-related quality of life , psychological outcomes such as depression or fear , or adverse effects .