Dosing Study of Massage for Neck Pain

Chronic Neck Pain Clinical Trial

Official title:

Dosing Study of Massage for Neck Pain

Clinical Trial Details — Status: Completed

Administrative data

• NCT number: NCT01122836
• Other study ID #: 5R01AT004411-02
• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• First received: May 11, 2010
• Last updated: October 11, 2017
• Start date: July 2010
• Est. completion date: March 2014

Study information

• Verified date: October 2017
• Source: Kaiser Permanente
• Contact: n/a
• Is FDA regulated: No
• Study type: Interventional

Clinical Trial Summary

This study is designed to determine the most effective dose of massage for persons with chronic neck pain. This information is necessary before more definitive studies can be conducted.

Description:

This study's long-term objective is to identify effective treatments for with neck pain. Many Americans have found conventional medical treatments ineffective for this common and costly problem and are increasingly trying complementary and alternative treatments, including therapeutic massage. Despite the growing popularity of massage, its effectiveness for treating neck pain remains unclear, largely because of the poor quality of research in this area. A major deficiency of previous studies has been their use of low "doses" of massage that massage therapists consider inadequate. Unfortunately, the numbers of minutes per massage session, sessions per weeks, or weeks of treatment necessary for massage to have beneficial or optimal effects are not known. This study is designed to address these gaps in our knowledge by determining, for persons with chronic neck pain: 1) the optimal combination of number of treatments per week and length of individual treatment session, and 2) the optimal number of weeks of treatment. In this project, 228 persons with chronic non-specific neck pain will be randomized to a wait list control group or 4 weeks of treatment with one of 5 different dosing combinations (2 or 3 30-minute treatments per week or 1, 2, or 3 60-minute treatments per week). At the end of this 4 week primary treatment period, participants initially receiving each of the 5 dosing combinations will be randomized to a secondary treatment period of either no additional treatment or 6 weekly 60-minute massages. The primary outcomes, neck-related dysfunction and pain, will be assessed by blinded telephone interviewers 4, 10, and 26 weeks post-randomization. To better characterize the trajectory of the persistence of treatment effects, these interview data will be supplemented with outcomes data collected by mailed questionnaire at 8, 14, 18 and 39 weeks. Comparisons of outcomes for the 6 groups during the primary treatment period will identify the optimal weekly dose, while comparisons of outcomes during the secondary treatment period will determine if 10 weeks of treatment is superior to 4 weeks. The results of this study will: 1) guide the development of a massage treatment protocol to be used in a full-scale trial evaluating the effectiveness of therapeutic massage for chronic neck pain, 2) serve as a model for future dosing studies of massage and bodywork, and 3) help interpret the adequacy of the dosing of massage used in past studies of massage for neck pain

Recruitment information / eligibility

• Status: Completed
• Enrollment: 228
• Est. completion date: March 2014
• Est. primary completion date: November 2011
• Accepts healthy volunteers: No
• Gender: All
• Age group: 20 Years to 64 Years

Eligibility

Inclusion Criteria:

• Symptoms consistent with non-specific, uncomplicated neck pain of at least moderate level of pain

• Lives or works within Greater Seattle WA geographic area

Exclusion Criteria:

• Cervical Radiculopathy

• History of cancer (other than nonmelanoma skin cancer)

• Severe disk problems

• Unstable medical conditions

• Previous neck surgery

• Physically unable to get on and off of a massage table

• Has had massage within the last year

• Currently in litigation for neck pain

• Seeking other treatment for neck pain

• Potential contraindications for massage

• Unable to give informed consent

Related Conditions & MeSH terms

• Chronic Neck Pain
• Neck Pain

Intervention

Other:
• Massage
Therapeutic Massage

Locations

Country	Name	City	State
United States	Group Health Research Institute	Seattle	Washington

Sponsors (2)

Lead Sponsor	Collaborator
Kaiser Permanente	National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH)

Country where clinical trial is conducted

United States, 

Outcome

Type	Measure	Description	Time frame	Safety issue
Primary	Improvement in neck related dysfunction	Evidence of clinically important improvement according to the Neck Pain Disability Index	4 weeks
Primary	Improvement in pain levels		4 weeks