Evidence map›Paper›PMID 26377322›Full record

Trial reportTrials2015

The effect of massage therapy and/or exercise therapy on subacute or long-lasting neck pain--the Stockholm neck trial (STONE): study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.

Eva Skillgate, Anne-Sylvie Bill, Pierre Côté, Peter Viklund, Anna Peterson, Lena W Holm

Open access · goldAbstract readComparative StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Trials, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed, 2 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 19 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Telerehabilitation for neck pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Massage for neck pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2024
    Pooled it
  3. Trial
  4. Article
  5. Article
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Eva SkillgateMusculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-17177, Stockholm, Sweden. Eva.Skillgate@ki.se.
Anne-Sylvie BillMusculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-17177, Stockholm, Sweden. annesylviebill@gmail.com.
Pierre CôtéDalla Lana School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. pierre.cote@uoit.ca.
Peter ViklundNaprapathögskolan, Scandinavian College of Naprapathic Manual Medicine, Kräftriket 23A, SE-11419, Stockholm, Sweden. peter.viklund@nph.se.
Anna PetersonMusculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-17177, Stockholm, Sweden. anna.peterson@ki.se.
Lena W HolmMusculoskeletal & Sports Injury Epidemiology Center, Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Box 210, SE-17177, Stockholm, Sweden. lena.holm@ki.se.
Karolinska Institutet · SEPublic Health Ontario · CAUniversity of Toronto · CA

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundNeck pain is a major health problem in populations worldwide and an economic burden in modern societies due to its high prevalence and costs in terms of health care expenditures and lost productivity. Massage and exercise therapy are widely used management options for neck pain. However, there is a lack of scientific evidence regarding their effectiveness for subacute and long-lasting neck pain. This study protocol describes a randomized controlled trial aiming to determine the effect of massage and/or exercise therapy on subacute and long-lasting neck pain over the course of 1 year. METHODS/

designA randomized controlled trial in which at least 600 study participants with subacute or long-lasting nonspecific neck pain will be recruited and randomly allocated to one of four treatment arms: massage therapy (A), exercise therapy (B), exercise therapy plus massage therapy (C) and advice to stay active (D). The study has an E-health approach, and study participants are being recruited through advertising with a mix of traditional and online marketing channels. Web-based self-report questionnaires measure the main outcomes at 7, 12, 26 and 52 weeks after inclusion. The primary outcomes are a clinically important improvement in pain intensity and pain-related disability at follow-up, measured with a modified version of the Chronic Pain Questionnaire (CPQ). The secondary outcomes are global improvement, health-related quality of life (EQ-5D), sick leave, drug consumption and healthcare utilization. Adverse events are measured by questionnaires at return visits to the clinic, and automated text messages (SMSes) survey neck pain intensity and pain-related disability every week over one year. DISCUSSION: The results of this study will provide clinicians and stakeholders much needed knowledge to plan medical care for subacute and long-lasting neck pain disorders.

trial registrationCurrent Controlled Trials ISRCTN01453590. Date of registration: 3 July 2014.

Indexed as

Exercise TherapyMassageAdolescentAdultAgedClinical ProtocolsCombined Modality TherapyCost-Benefit AnalysisDisability EvaluationFemaleHealth Care CostsHumansMaleMiddle AgedNeck PainPain Measurement

Identifiers

PMID26377322
PMCPMC4573492
OpenAlexW2125993167

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.