Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30360762›Full record

Trial reportBMC musculoskeletal disorders2018

The effectiveness of training physical therapists in pain neuroscience education on patient reported outcomes for patients with chronic spinal pain: a study protocol for a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Elizabeth Lane, Julie M Fritz, Tom Greene, Daniel Maddox

Registry-linked trialAbstract readMulticenter StudyRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in BMC musculoskeletal disorders, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03168165 (The Effectiveness of Training Physical Therapists in Pain Neuroscience Education on Patient Reported Outcomes for Patients With Chronic Spinal Pain), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed, 1 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
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.

NCT03168165 nacompletednot on this map

The Effectiveness of Training Physical Therapists in Pain Neuroscience Education on Patient Reported Outcomes for Patients With Chronic Spinal Pain

TypeinterventionalSponsorUniversity of UtahRan2017 to 2019Enrolled316ConditionsNeck Pain, Low Back Pain, Chronic PainArmsPain neuroscience education training
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.

  1. Telerehabilitation for neck pain.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Trial
  3. Trial
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

4 authors.

Elizabeth LaneDepartment of Physical Therapy & Athletic Training, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA. elizabeth.lane@utah.edu.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2168-3731
Julie M FritzCollege of Health, University of Utah, 520 Wakara Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84108, USA.
Tom GreeneDepartment of Internal Medicine and Director, Population Health Research Study Design and Biostatistics Center, School of Medicine, University of Utah, 295 Chipeta Way, Salt Lake City, UT, 84132, USA.
Daniel MaddoxDepartment of Physical Therapy, Ivester College of Health Sciences, Brenau University, 500 Washington St. SE, Gainesville, GA, 30501, USA.

Funding

Utah Center for Clinical and Translational ScienceUL1TR002538 · NCATS · UNIVERSITY OF UTAH · PI HESS, RACHEL, MAJERSIK, JENNIFER JUHL · 2018 to 2022
$26.0M
NCATS NIH HHS UL1 TR002538The American Physical Therapy Association, Orthopedic Section 10044388
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundChronic spinal pain affects many in the United States and is associated with rising healthcare costs - but not improved outcomes. Education and self-care promotion are hallmarks of the recommended approach for this condition. Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) is a method of educating patients about the neurophysiology of pain that aims to reconceptualize pain from an indicator of damage to an interpretation of input signals by the brain and nervous system. PNE has shown efficacy in controlled situations when delivered by experts, but its effectiveness has not been investigated among trained clinicians in a pragmatic setting.

methodsA cluster randomized trial will randomly assign 16 clinic regions to either receive PNE training or continue with usual care. Patients with chronic neck or back pain will be enrolled to provide outcome data. Measures will be collected at baseline, 2 weeks, and 12 weeks. The primary outcome will be the Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) Physical Function computer-adapted test (PF-CAT). Pre-specified statistical analyses will compare outcomes between clinic regions assigned to PNE treatment or usual care while using random effects to account for region-level clustering. DISCUSSION: Pain Neuroscience Education has been shown efficacious for a variety of patient-centered outcomes for those with chronic pain, but it has not yet been investigated outside of controlled settings. This trial has the potential to promote PNE as a low-cost intervention for chronic spinal pain and affect physical therapy education.

trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT03168165 , registered May 30, 2017.

Indexed as

Patient Reported Outcome MeasuresBack PainChronic PainCluster AnalysisHumansNeck PainNeurosciencesPain ManagementPhysical TherapistsPhysical Therapy ModalitiesSingle-Blind MethodTreatment OutcomeChronic painCluster randomized trialLow back painPain neuroscience education

Identifiers

PMID30360762
PMCPMC6203285

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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.