Chiropractic and Exercise for Seniors With Neck Pain

Summary

The purpose of this randomized clinical trial is to assess the relative effectiveness of three conservative treatment approaches for seniors with chronic neck pain: 1) chiropractic manual treatment plus home exercise, 2) supervised exercise plus home exercise and 3) home exercise alone.

Conditions

• Neck Pain

Interventions

PROCEDURE

Chiropractic Manual treatment + home exercise ( procedure+behavior)

The number of treatments will be determined by the individual chiropractor. Chiropractic manual treatment will be limited to gentle spinal manipulation and mobilization with light soft tissue massage as indicated to facilitate the manual therapy. Patients will attend 4, 1-hour small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about neck pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active

PROCEDURE

Supervised rehabilitative exercise + home exercise

The rehabilitative exercise program will consist of 20, 1 hour small-group sessions. It is a modification of exercise protocols used in previous studies by the investigators and others and incorporates recommendations of leading rehabilitative exercise specialists. The program will include exercises that reduce joint stiffness and relax elastic structures resulting in lower joint loads during movements. Patients will attend 4, 1-hour small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about neck pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active

BEHAVIORAL

Home exercise

Patients will attend 4, 1-hour small-group sessions at weeks 1, 2, 4 and 8. At the first two sessions they will be given information about neck pain and shown exercises to perform at home. Emphasis will be placed on the importance of staying active.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA)

  collaborator FED

• Berman Center for Outcomes and Clinical Research

  collaborator OTHER

• Northwestern Health Sciences University

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD · Northwestern Health Sciences University

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2003-10-31

Primary Completion

2008-04-30

Completion

2008-04-30

Countries

• United States

Study Locations