The following is a summary of “Effectiveness of telerehabilitation-based exercise combined with pain neuroscience education for patients with facet joint arthrosis: A randomized controlled study,” published in the September 2023 issue of Pain by Okudan et al.

Researchers started a retrospective study to investigate the short-term effectiveness of telerehabilitation-based exercise with and without pain neuroscience education for low back pain (LBP) caused by facet joint arthrosis (FJA).

They conducted a single-blind, randomized-controlled clinical trial involving 45 patients suffering from LBP due to FJA. These patients were divided into three groups: exercise group (n = 15), exercise with PNE group (n = 15), and a control group (n = 15) placed on a waiting list. Interventions were administered twice a week for six weeks through telerehabilitation. The main outcome measures included the numeric pain-rating scale (NPRS) at rest and with activity, the Oswestry disability index (ODI), and the pain beliefs questionnaire (PBQ). As for secondary outcome measures, the short form was assessed-12v2 (SF-12v2) and the global rating of change score (GROC).

The results showed that the groups (52.00 ± 4.86, 46.7% female) had similar baseline characteristics, except for gender (P=0.029). A significant group-by-time interaction was observed for NPRS-rest (F = 4.276, P=0.021), NPRS-activity (F = 12.327, P=0.0001), the ODI (F = 23.122, P=0.0001), and organic pain belief (F = 39.708, P=0.0001). Further ANOVA comparison indicated that the exercise with the PNE group demonstrated a superior improvement in only organic pain belief (P=0.0001). All groups improved, with higher scores in the intervention groups (P=0.001).

They concluded that telerehabilitation-based exercise with and without pain neuroscience education improved pain, disability, and pain beliefs in patients with low back pain caused by facet joint arthrosis.

Source: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ejp.2187