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 .
Efficacy of a Patient-Educational Booklet for Neck-Pain Patients With Workers' Compensation: A Randomized Controlled Trial
Study Design . A r and omized controlled trial of an educational booklet for patients with first-time neck pain . Objective . To assess the clinical impact of a novel educational book on patients ' functional outcomes and beliefs about neck pain . Summary of Background Data . Previous research has shown that a novel education booklet ( The Back Book ) had a positive impact on patients with low back pain ' beliefs and clinical outcomes . The current study sought to evaluate the efficacy of a similar education booklet ( The Neck Book ) for neck-pain patients . Methods . Workers ' compensation patients were given either the experimental booklet , a traditional booklet or no booklet . The primary outcome measures , collected at 2-weeks , 3-months , and 6-months after baseline , were The Fear Avoidance Beliefs Question naire and The Neck Pain and Disability Scale . Health-related functional measures were also collected at these intervals . Results . Only 34 % ( N = 187 ) of an original cohort of patients ( N = 522 ) had data for all of the follow-up periods . For these 187 patients , repeated- measures analyses of covariance , using the baseline measure as the covariate , revealed no significant differences among the 3 groups on any of the outcome measures at any of the follow-up periods . For example , at 6-months , the experimental booklet , traditional booklet , and no-booklet groups reported The Neck Pain and Disability Scale mean scores ( SDs ) of 31.3 ( 15.5 ) , 35.3 ( 17.0 ) , and 31.8 ( 15.6 ) , respectively . Similarly , there were no significant effects for The Fear Avoidance Beliefs Question naire scores—35.9 ( 21.5 ) , 40.3 ( 22.1 ) , and 38.0 ( 23.4 ) , respectively . Conclusion . This study demonstrates that the educational booklets studied were not associated with improved outcomes in patients with neck pain receiving workers ' compensation . Whether these results would apply to a nonworkers ' compensation population requires further study . The loss of many patients to follow-up also makes any other firm conclusions more difficult to determine
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 .