Patient-Oriented versus Prescription-Oriented rehabilitation in the management of chronic mechanical neck pain: a randomized controlled trial.

INTERVENTION: Patient‐oriented rehabilitation: therapeutic exercises and/or physical modalities are prescribed according to patient clinical status before each therapeutic session starts. All patients will be treated in a one‐on‐one modality by an experienced physiotherapist, that will not change during the whole treatment period, three times a week for a total of a 10 treatment sessions over a period of 4 weeks. The duration of each single therapy session may vary according to prescription from a minimum of 30 minutes to a maximum of 50 minutes. CONDITION: chronic mechanical neck pain PRIMARY OUTCOME: Changes in disability level in both groups at the end of treatment, as measured by Neck Pain and Disability Score Changes in pain level in both groups at the end of treatment, as measured by visual analog scale (VAS) score SECONDARY OUTCOME: Treatment failure, which was defined by the number of patients who interrupted the treatment they had been assigned because of no benefit (no reduction in pain) INCLUSION CRITERIA: Neck pain predominantly located in the somatic referral zones of the cervical spine, with or without shoulder, arm or face irradiation and of at least moderate intensity (4 cm or more on a 10‐cm visual analog scale labeled 0=no pain and 10= the worst pain possible).