Examining the influence of pain neuroscience education followed by a Pilates exercises program in individuals with knee osteoarthritis: a pilot randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Background Knee osteoarthritis (OA) is a multifactorial form of rheumatic condition contributing to physical and psychological factors. Treatments have been provided solely and often compared with each other. An alternative view is that combined treatments addressing physical and psychological factors may result in more benefits. This study aimed to investigate the effect of pain neuroscience education (PNE) followed by Pilates exercises (PEs) in participants with knee OA, compared to PE alone. Methods In this two-arm assessor-blind pilot randomized controlled trial, fifty-four community-dwelling adults with knee OA were randomly assigned to the PNE followed by PEs and PEs groups (27 in each group). The study was conducted between early July 2021 and early March 2022 at the university’s health center. Primary outcomes were Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index (WOMAC) subscales of pain and physical limitation and secondary outcomes were Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire, and Timed "Up & Go" test covering function. The primary and secondary outcomes were measured at baseline and eight weeks post-treatment. A general linear mixed model was used for between-group comparison with a statistical significance level of 0.05. Results Significant within-group differences were observed in all outcomes in both groups at post-treatment. There were no statistically between-group differences in pain (adjusted mean difference: -0.8; 95% CI -2.2 to 0.7; p = 0.288), physical limitation (adjusted mean difference: -0.4; 95% CI -4 to 3.1; p = 0.812) and function (adjusted mean difference: -0.8; 95% CI -1.8 to 0.1; p = 0.069) at eight weeks. For pain catastrophizing (adjusted mean difference: -3.9; 95% CI -7.2 to -0.6; p = 0.021), kinesiophobia (adjusted mean difference: -4.2; 95% CI -8.1 to -0.4; p = 0.032), and self-efficacy (adjusted mean difference: 6.1; 95% CI 0.7 to 11.5; p = 0.028) statistically between-group improvements were observed favoring PNE followed by PEs group after the treatment. Conclusions Combining PNE with PEs could have superior effects on psychological characteristics but not on pain, physical limitation, and function, compared to PEs alone. This pilot study emphasizes the need to investigate the combined effects of different interventions. Trial registration IRCT20210701051754N1.

Pain neuroscience education following arthroscopic rotator cuff repair for patients with rotator cuff tears: a double blind randomized controlled clinical trial

“…These outcomes are in line with previous studies that have reported unsatisfactory results on the efficacy of PNE in directly reducing pain and functional limitations. [25][26][27] Ponce-Fuentes et al conducted a randomized clinical trial in 29 patients with ARCR to compare effectiveness of the PNE versus biomedical education both in addition to the standard exercise program. 12 They found that either the PNE or biomedical education is equally effective in improving rest pain and disability, except for pain at movement in favor of the PNE group.…”

Pain catastrophizing in rheumatic diseases: prevalence, origin, and implications

“…A study found that both periodised circuit training and conventional strength training significantly decreased pain catastrophizing [ 168 ]. In relation to pain catastrophizing, it has been suggested that incorporating pain neuroscience education followed by Pilates exercises compared to Pilates exercises alone can result in statistically significant improvement in PCS [ 169 ]. The addition of action observation therapy to an exercise program for pain and related measures was also explored.…”