Tai Chi for Chronic Non-specific Neck Pain (TaiChiNe)

Tai Chi for Chronic Non-specific Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

In this study the efficacy of Tai Chi will be tested in comparison to conventional neck exercises and usual care in a randomized controlled trial. Tai Chi and neck exercises will be lead by a trained exercise therapist and Tai Chi instructor, both groups receive 12 weeks of training, once weekly for 60-90 min in a group setting. Pain, Disability, quality of life, wellbeing, stress perception, psychological distress will be used to determine effects.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Neck Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Behavioral: Tai Chi; Behavioral: Neck exercises

Detailed Description

see above

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 114
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Germany
  • NRW
    • Essen, NRW, Germany, 45276
      • Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 18 years and older (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• chronic non specific neck pain (3 months at least)
• 45mm pain intensity on average on the visual analog scale

Exclusion Criteria:

• specific neck pain due to
• inflammatory diseases
• rheumatic diseases
• neurological diseases
• prolapse or protrusion
• oncological disease
• trauma (whiplash)
• congenital deformity of the spine
• severe comorbidity (somatic, psychiatric)
• pregnancy
• participation in other clinical trials
• regular practice of tai chi, qigong, yoga in the past 6 months
• medication with opioids

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

3

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Tai Chi; Simplified 24 Yang Style 12 weeks, 1x/week, 60-90 minutes	Behavioral: Tai Chi; traditional chinese martial art meditative movement technique; Other Names: Taiji; T'ai Chi
Active Comparator: Neck exercise; conventional neck exercises 12 weeks, 1x/week, 60 min stretching and strengthening, neck education	Behavioral: Neck exercises; group exercises for strengthening and stretching neck and back muslces to alleviate neck pain; Other Names: neck training
No Intervention: Usual care; Usual care, no specific study intervention this group is offered Tai Chi or neck exercises at the end of the study

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
pain intensity	pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (0-100mm)	week 12

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
pain intensity	pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (0-100mm)	week 24
pain on movement	pain intensity on a visual analogue scale (0-100mm) evoked by head movement into 6 directions POM validated by Lauche et al., 2014, Pain Medicine	week 12, week 24
neck disability	neck disability index (NDI), Vernon et al.	week 12, week 24
health related quality of life	short form quality of life questionnaire (SF-36), Bullinger and Kirchberger	week 12, week 24
Anxiety and Depression	Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS)	week 12, week 24
Wellbeing	Wellbeing on the FEW16 Questionnaire	week 12, week 24
Stress	Subjective stress perception, Perceived Stress Scale (PSS)	week 12, week 24
interoceptive awareness	The Multidimensional Assessment of Interoceptive Awareness (MAIA)	week 12, week 24
Postural Awareness	Postural Awareness Questionnaire (PAS)	week 12, week 24
Safety	All adverse and serious adverse events	week 24
pain intensity ratings	daily rating of pain intensity, visual analog scales	week 12
use of analgetics	daily information on use of analgetics	week 12
use of concomitant therapies	daily information on use of concomitant therapies for neck pain	week 12

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Experiences	Experiences with Tai Chi and neck exercises, qualitative interviews	Week 24

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Universität Duisburg-Essen
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Gustav Dobos, Prof., Department of Internal and Integrative Medicine, Kliniken Essen-Mitte

Publications and helpful links

General Publications

• Lauche R, Wayne PM, Fehr J, Stumpe C, Dobos G, Cramer H. Does Postural Awareness Contribute to Exercise-Induced Improvements in Neck Pain Intensity? A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Controlled Trial Evaluating Tai Chi and Neck Exercises. Spine (Phila Pa 1976). 2017 Aug 15;42(16):1195-1200. doi: 10.1097/BRS.0000000000002078.
• Lauche R, Stumpe C, Fehr J, Cramer H, Cheng YW, Wayne PM, Rampp T, Langhorst J, Dobos G. The Effects of Tai Chi and Neck Exercises in the Treatment of Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial. J Pain. 2016 Sep;17(9):1013-27. doi: 10.1016/j.jpain.2016.06.004. Epub 2016 Jun 23.

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start: August 1, 2014
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 1, 2014
• Study Completion (Actual): April 1, 2015

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: August 18, 2014
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: August 20, 2014
• First Posted (Estimate): August 21, 2014

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): May 2, 2018
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 30, 2018
• Last Verified: April 1, 2018

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: chronic pain; neck pain
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Neck Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: 13-5672 Tai Chi Neck Pain