Introduction: Unspecific pain in the neck and upper back is associated with pain without signs and symptoms suggestive of mayor structural pathology. Pain often occurs recurrently or chronically, which leads to an increase of number of sick leaves and treatment costs. Long waiting lists for a physiotherapist appointment result in a decrease of efficacy in treatment of unspecific pain. With triage physiotherapy intervention the waiting time until the first appointment can be reduced, which increases treatment efficacy and educates the patient on self-care. Purpose: In a prospective longitudinal study we compared the efficacy of triage and standard physiotherapy intervention in patients with neck and upper back pain and evaluate the existing physiotherapy treatment of such patients. Methods: The research included 81 patients with neck and upper back pain. 58 patients (aged 46 ± 12 years) underwent triage physiotherapy intervention (triage group), while the remaining 23 (aged 50 ± 11 years) were subjected to standard physiotherapy intervention (control group). The patients’ anamneses were recorded and physiotherapeutic examination was performed, consisting of measurements of range of motion of the neck and rating the intensity of pain using the numeric rating scale (NRS). Furthermore, the neck disability index (NDI) was also evaluated. The measurements were performed before and after physiotherapy intervention. Results: The decrease of maximum pain intensity, evaluated through the NRS, was greater among patients subjected to triage physiotherapy with statistical and clinical significance (p < 0,001) in comparison with the patients having undergone standard physiotherapy intervention. A reduction of the number of NDI points was statistically and clinically significant (p < 0,001) only in the triage group. The range of motion of the neck increases with both statistical and clinical significance among patients undergoing physiotherapy intervention (p < 0,05). We found a moderately negative relationship (r = 0,55, p < 0,05) between the neck’s range of motion in sagittal plane and the NDI. Discussion and conclusions: Triage physiotherapy intervention is more effective than standard physiotherapy in treating unspecific pain in the neck and upper back. We established that the standard physiotherapy intervention is effective in increasing the range of motion of the neck in patients suffering from unspecific pain. It would be reasonable to introduce triage physiotherapy intervention in the public health care system in Slovenia.
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