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Background: Previous systematic reviews have identified the benefits of exercise for chronic neck pain on subjective reports of pain, but not with objective measures such as quantitative sensory testing (QST). A systematic review was conducted to identify the effects of neck specific exercise on QST measures in adults with chronic neck pain to synthesise existing literature and provide clinical recommendations., Methods: The study protocol was registered prospectively with PROSPERO (PROSPERO CRD42021297383). For both randomised and non-randomised trials, the following databases and trial registries were searched: AMED, CINAHL, Embase, Google Scholar, Medline, PEDro, PubMed, Scopus, SPORTDiscus, Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index from Web of Science Core Collection, clinicaltrials.gov, GreyOpen, and ISRCTN registry. These searches were conducted from inception to February 2022 and were updated until September 2023. Reference lists of eligible studies were screened. Study selection was performed independently by two reviewers, with data extraction and quality appraisal completed by one reviewer and independently ratified by a second reviewer. Due to high heterogeneity, narrative synthesis was performed with results grouped by exercise type., Findings: Three trials were included. Risk of bias was rated as moderate and the certainty of evidence as low or moderate for all studies. All exercise groups demonstrated statistically significant improvement at an intermediate-term follow-up, with progressive resistance training combined with graded physical training demonstrating the highest certainty of evidence. Fixed resistance training demonstrated statistically significant improvement in QST measures at a short-term assessment., Interpretation: Fixed resistance training is effective for short-term changes in pain sensitivity based on low-quality evidence, whilst moderate-quality evidence supports progressive resistance training combined with graded physical training for intermediate-term changes in pain sensitivity., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Osborne et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Background: Exercise is recommended for office workers with neck pain. However, recent reviews evaluated the effectiveness of workplace interventions only., Objectives: To evaluate the effect of exercise on pain, disability, and quality of life (QoL) in office workers with chronic neck pain., Design: Systematic review with meta-analysis., Methods: Electronic databases were searched from inception to April 30, 2022, to identify studies in which participants were adults aged ≥18 years undergoing any form of neck exercises (e.g., strengthening, motor control) or physical activity (e.g., aerobic exercise) performed for a minimum of two-weeks without any other additional treatment besides advice or education. Two reviewers independently screened papers and determined the certainty of the evidence., Results: Eight randomised controlled trials met the eligibility criteria. Seven studies reported a significant decrease in Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores for neck pain intensity and five studies reported a significant decrease in Neck Disability Index (NDI) scores following strengthening exercises. Only one study assessed the effect of strengthening exercises on QoL and reported no significant effect. All eight included studies had a high risk of bias and the overall certainty of evidence was low. Meta-analyses demonstrated a significant decrease of neck pain intensity and disability for strengthening exercises compared to a control (p < 0.01)., Conclusion: There is low certainty of evidence that strengthening of the neck, shoulder and scapular musculature is effective at reducing neck pain and disability in office workers. Further research evaluating the effect of exercise on QoL is required., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper, (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

Background and Objective: Traumatic injuries are amongst the leading causes of death and disability in the world across all age groups. This systematic review aimed to (1) describe the role of post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) on the development of chronic pain and/or pain-related disability following musculoskeletal trauma and (2) report pain and or pain-related disability by injury severity/type., Database and Data Treatment: Electronic databases were searched, from inception to 31 November 2021 and updated on 10 May 2022, to identify studies in which: participants were adults aged ≥16 years sustaining any traumatic event that resulted in one or more musculoskeletal injuries; an outcome measure of PTSS was used within 3 months of a traumatic event; the presence of pain and/or pain-related disability was recorded at a follow-up of 3 months or more. Two reviewers independently screened papers and assessed the quality of included studies., Results: Eight studies were included. Owing to between-study heterogeneity, the results were synthesized using a narrative approach. Five studies investigated the relationship between PTSS and pain. Participants with PTSS were more likely to develop persistent pain for at least 12 months post-injury. Six studies assessed the relationship between PTSS and pain-related disability. The results suggest that patients with PTSS had significantly higher disability levels for at least 12 months post-injury., Conclusion: Findings from this comprehensive systematic review support a clear relationship between PTSS post-injury and future pain/disability, with the potential importance of certain PTSS clusters (hyper-arousal and numbing)., Significance: The findings of this systematic review indicate an association between PTSS reported within 3 months of a traumatic musculoskeletal injury and the development of longer-term pain and disability. The PTSS clusters of 'hyper-arousal' and 'numbing' appear to be of particular importance in this relationship., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42021285243., (© 2022 The Authors. European Journal of Pain published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of European Pain Federation - EFIC ®.)

Introduction: Post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), pain and disability frequently co-occur following traumatic injuries. Although the coexistence of these symptoms is common, the relation between these symptoms and the impact on longer-term outcome remains poorly understood. This systematic review aims to determine the role of PTSS on the development of chronic pain and/or pain-related disability following musculoskeletal trauma., Methods/analysis: This protocol is developed and reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses-Protocol. The review will include studies that recruited individuals aged ≥16 years sustaining any traumatic event that resulted in one or more musculoskeletal injuries and where a recognised measure for the presence of PTSS symptoms, pain and disability using either validated questionnaires or symptom checklists was employed. The following citation databases MEDLINE, PsycINFO, EMBASE, CINAHL, ZETOC, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar, as well as reference lists from key journals and grey literature, will be searched from inception to 31 November 2021. Two independent reviewers will search, screen studies, extract data and assess risk of bias. The relationship of PTSS, pain and pain-related disability by injury type and severity will be estimated with 95% CI. If possible, study results will be pooled into a meta-analysis. However, if heterogeneity between studies is high, data analyses will be presented descriptively. The overall quality of evidence will be assessed using the Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluation guidelines., Ethics and Dissemination: Ethical approval will not be required for this systematic review since only data from existing studies will be used. This review is expected to provide a better understanding of the factors associated with PTSS, pain and pain-related disability following musculoskeletal trauma, and help with the development of targeted therapeutic interventions. Results of this review will be disseminated in peer-reviewed publications and via national and international conferences., Prospero Registration Number: CRD42021285243., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)

Background: Kinesiophobia (i.e., fear of movement) can be an important contributor for ongoing pain and disability in people with spine-related pain. It remains unclear whether physical activity interventions/exercise influence kinesiophobia in this population. A systematic review was therefore conducted to synthesize the available evidence on whether physical activity interventions/exercise influence kinesiophobia in people with chronic non-specific spine-related pain. Methods: The study protocol was registered prospectively with PROSPERO (CRD42021295755). The following databases were systematically searched from inception to 31 January 2022 and updated on 22 June 2023: PubMed, MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, Web of Science, PsycINFO, ZETOC, PROSPERO and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were randomized or non-randomized controlled studies investigating adults aged 18 years, reporting the effect of exercise or physical activity on kinesiophobia in individuals with chronic non-specific spine-related pain. Two reviewers independently extracted data and assessed the quality of the included studies. Bias was assessed using the Cochrane ROB2 tool and evidence certainty via Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation (GRADE). Results: Seventeen studies from seven countries involving a total of 1,354 individuals were selected for inclusion. The majority of studies (n = 13) involved participants with chronic low back pain (LBP), and Pilates was the most common form of exercise evaluated. Most of the studies reported a positive direction of effect in favor of exercise reducing kinesiophobia when compared to a control group. There was moderate to high risk of bias among the studies and the overall certainty of the evidence was very low. Conclusion: This review supports the use of exercise for reducing kinesiophobia in people with chronic LBP albeit with very low certainty of evidence; Pilates (especially equipment-based) was shown to be effective as were strengthening training programmes. There was limited evidence available on the effects of exercise on kinesiophobia for people with chronic neck or thoracic pain and further research is required. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]