Evidence map›Paper›PMID 40217263›Full record

Trial reportChiropractic & manual therapies2025

The response to individualized treatment after a standardized treatment protocol among neck pain sufferers: a secondary analysis of a randomized controlled trial.

Anders Galaasen Bakken, Andreas Eklund, Anna Oksanen, Iben Axén

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Chiropractic & manual therapies, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03576846 (The Effect of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on Heart Rate Variability and Pain, and the Predictive Value of Conditioned Pain Modulation), which is not on this map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–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.

NCT03576846 nacompletednot on this map

The Effect of Spinal Manipulative Therapy on Heart Rate Variability and Pain, and the Predictive Value of Conditioned Pain Modulation

TypeinterventionalSponsorKarolinska InstitutetRan2019 to 2020Enrolled131ConditionsNeck PainArmsStretching and Spinal manipulative therapy, Stretching
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. 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

4 authors.

Anders Galaasen BakkenUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Department of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 13, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Andreas EklundUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Department of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 13, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Anna OksanenDivision of Biostatistics, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 13, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden.
Iben AxénUnit of Intervention and Implementation Research for Worker Health, Department of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Nobels Väg 13, 171 77, Stockholm, Sweden. Iben.axen@ki.se.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundManual therapy and exercise are recommended for patients with neck pain. In a recent randomized controlled trial, home stretching exercises with or without manual therapy were offered to subjects with persistent or recurrent neck pain. No difference in pain or disability between the treatment groups were found after the two-week intervention period. We aimed to investigate whether these patients had a better outcome after individual tailoring of the treatment content two months after the initial structured intervention period.

methodsThis manuscript is a secondary analysis of a previous clinical trial where 131 patients with persistent or recurrent neck pain received treatments over two weeks (the intervention period). Pain and disability were assessed for two months following the intervention period. During this period, the treating therapists could recommend further individualized tailored treatment, including any treatment modality, regardless of the intervention group and whether the participants responded to the intervention (responders) or not (non-responders). Responders from the intervention period were defined as reporting a minimal clinical improvement on the numeric rating scale (NRS-11) at a 20-percentage points improvement (2 increments), regardless of group belonging in the original trial. All other participants were considered non-responders. We also evaluated the number of treatments, differences in disability, quality and affective component of pain, and quality of life during the individualized care period.

resultsFor responders to a randomized trial of manual therapy and stretching exercises, a significant worsening in pain was associated with an increasing number of treatments during a two-month individualized care period. Among non-responders to the initial intervention period, improvement in neck pain disability was observed with individually tailored treatments.

conclusionsFor responders to a randomized trial of manual therapy and stretching, worsening pain in the individualized care period was associated with increasing numbers of individually tailored treatments. Among non-responders to the initial intervention period, improvement in neck pain disability was observed with individually tailored treatments.

trial registrationThe trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov, registration number NCT03576846, on 23rd of June 2018.

Indexed as

Musculoskeletal ManipulationsNeck PainPrecision MedicineAdultDisability EvaluationExercise TherapyFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedPain MeasurementTreatment OutcomeNeck disabilityNRS-11Persistent neck painRespondersSMTSpinal manipulative therapy

Identifiers

PMID40217263
PMCPMC11987369

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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.