ReviewJournal of clinical medicine2021
Specific versus Non-Specific Exercises for Chronic Neck or Shoulder Pain: A Systematic Review.
Review in Journal of clinical medicine, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT06295276 (Does a Teletherapy-guided Exercise Programme Improve Pain Intensity, Disability, and Quality of Life in Nursing Students With Back and Neck Pain Compared to a Control Group?), which is not on this map. Cited by 16 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Does a Teletherapy-guided Exercise Programme Improve Pain Intensity, Disability, and Quality of Life in Nursing Students With Back and Neck Pain Compared to a Control Group?
Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Comparative Efficacy of Mind-Body Exercise for Treating Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain: A Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis.Current pain and headache reports · 2024Pooled it
- Comparison of Traditional Chinese Manual Therapy (Tuina) and Extracorporeal Shock Wave Therapy in Patients With Nonspecific Neck Pain: Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial.JMIR research protocols · 2026Trial
- Acute effects of aerobic versus combined aerobic and cervical-upper extremity resistance exercise on pressure pain threshold, pain perception, and fatigue in workers exposed to high ergonomic risk with chronic non-specific neck pain: a randomized controlled trial.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2026Trial
- Trial
- The response to individualized treatment after a standardized treatment protocol among neck pain sufferers: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.Chiropractic & manual therapies · 2025Trial
- Effects of 12 weeks of fascia knife release therapy in combination with exercise for treating neck and shoulder pain in adolescent table tennis players.Frontiers in public health · 2025Trial
- Immediate neck hypoalgesic effects of craniocervical flexion exercises and cervical retraction exercises among individuals with non-acute neck pain and a directional preference for retraction or extension: preliminary pretest-posttest randomized experimental design.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2023Trial
- Effectiveness of Tuina Therapy Combined With Yijinjing Exercise in the Treatment of Nonspecific Chronic Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial.JAMA network open · 2022Trial
- Comparison of the short-term effects of Mulligan and Maitland mobilisation techniques combined with home-based exercise for non-specific neck pain: A randomised controlled trial.Hong Kong physiotherapy journal : official publication of the Hong Kong Physiotherapy Association Limited = Wu li chih liao · 2026Article
- Acute and long-term effect of specific and non-specific exercises in patients with chronic neck pain: A protocol for a randomized controlled trial.Experimental physiology · 2025Article
- EFisioTrack System for Monitoring Therapeutic Exercises in Patients with Shoulder Orthopedic Injuries in a Hospital Setting: A Pilot Feasibility Study.Sensors (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
- Effect of a Novel Training Program in Patients With Chronic Shoulder Pain Based on Implicit Motor Learning: Pilot and Feasibility Study.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2024Article
- The Predictive Value and Influencing Factors of Craniocervical Flexion Test for Patients with Chronic Non-Specific Neck Pain: A Case Control Study.Journal of pain research · 2024Article
- Specific Neurodynamic Exercises on Pain and Disability in Old Women with Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Specific versus general exercise programme in adults with subacromial impingement syndrome: a randomised controlled trial.BMJ open sport & exercise medicine · 2023Article
- The Key Role of Lifestyle Factors in Perpetuating Chronic Pain: Towards Precision Pain Medicine.Journal of clinical medicine · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The current systematic review aimed to compare the effect of injury-focused (specific) exercises versus more general (non-specific) exercises on pain in patients with chronic neck or shoulder pain. We searched PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science. Two reviewers screened and selected studies, extracted outcomes, assessed risk of bias, and rated the quality of evidence. A total of nine eligible studies, represented in 13 articles, were identified, with a considerable risk of bias. One article investigated the acute effect of single bouts of exercise on pain and reported an immediate pain reduction after non-specific exercise. Regarding short-term effects, seven out of the nine studies found no differences in pain between interventions, with inconsistent results among two other studies. Concerning the long-term effects, while pain reduction seems to be favored by specific exercises (two out of four articles), the best format is still unclear. Based on the acute effects, a single bout of non-specific exercise seems to be a better option for pain-relief for patients with chronic neck or shoulder pain. For short-term effects, there are no differences in pain between specific and non-specific exercises. Regarding long-term effects, specific exercises seem to be the best option. Nevertheless, more studies are warranted.
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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.