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Neck pain - non-specific - Evidence
Limitations of studies
- Although there are numerous trials of many interventions, and many reviews of treatment, it is difficult to give a clear overview of the evidence and to isolate which intervention may be of use in a particular type of neck pain. The evidence about the effects of individual interventions for neck pain is often contradictory for several reasons [Binder, 2007c]:
- Many of the trials are of poor quality.
- The randomized controlled trials have been conducted in diverse groups. Many studies of neck pain do not distinguish among acute, subacute, and chronic neck pain, or between neck pain after a whiplash-associated disorder and other non-specific neck pain.
- The tendency for interventions to be given in combination may obscure important differences in efficacy between treatments as tested in individual studies. Examples include multimodal therapies, manipulation, and exercise.
- Many non-drug treatments for neck pain are often not described in sufficient detail for the trial to be replicated independently.
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