Recommendations For Mobilization and Manipulation Treatment and Screening for Vascular Complications in Clinical Practice Guidelines for Neck Pain: A Systematic Review.

Objective: This systematic review aimed to determine the methodological quality of international clinical practice guidelines and the clinical credibility and implementability of recommendations regarding manipulation or mobilization treatment recommendations proposed in clinical practice guidelines for the management of people with neck pain. A secondary aim of this review was to provide an overview of recommendations for manipulation or mobilization in patients with neck pain. Manipulation or mobilization treatment of patients with neck pain is under debate for its potential risk of serious adverse events.

Sensory profiles and their role in the persistence of central sensitization symptoms in low back pain. A prospective cohort study.

Introduction: Acute lower back pain can lead to neuroplastic changes in the central nervous system, and symptoms of central sensitization after 12 weeks. While sensory sensitivity has been shown to predict symptoms of central sensitization, trait sensory profiles may be prognostic in the persistence of central sensitization symptoms in low back pain over time.

Objective: To examine sensory profiles as prognostic symptoms of central sensitization in people with acute low back pain.

Risk assessment of vascular complications following manual therapy and exercise for the cervical region: diagnostic accuracy of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists framework (The Go4Safe project).

Question: What is the diagnostic accuracy of the International Federation of Orthopaedic Manipulative Physical Therapists (IFOMPT) framework to assess the risk of vascular complications in patients seeking physiotherapy care for neck pain and/or headache?

Design: Cross-sectional diagnostic accuracy study.

Participants: One hundred and fifty patients seeking physiotherapy for neck pain and/or headache in primary care.

Methods: Nineteen physiotherapists performed the index test according to the IFOMPT framework.

Exploratory Study of Associations and Agreement between Prognostic Patient-Registered Factors, Physiotherapists' Intuitive Synthesis, and Patient-Reported Factors in Whiplash-Associated Disorders.

Background: A large proportion of people who sustain a whiplash injury will have persistent pain, disability, and participation problems. Several prognostic factors for functional recovery have been reported in the literature but these factors are often evaluated based on differing implementations in clinical practice. Additionally, physiotherapists also rely on their clinical intuition to estimate the functional prognosis of their patients, but this is seldom measured in experimental research.

External validation and updating of prognostic models for predicting recovery of disability in people with (sub)acute neck pain was successful: broad external validation in a new prospective cohort.

Question: Can existing post-treatment prognostic models for predicting neck pain recovery (primarily in terms of disability and secondarily in terms of pain intensity and perceived improvement) be externally validated and updated at the end of the treatment period and at 6 and 12 weeks of follow-up in a new Dutch cohort of people with neck pain treated with guideline-based usual care physiotherapy?

Design: External validation and model updating in a new prospective cohort of three previously developed prognostic models.

Participants: People with (sub)acute neck pain and registered for primary care physiotherapy treatment.

Outcome Measures: Recovery of disability, pain intensity, and perceived recovery at 6 and 12 weeks and at the end of the treatment period.

Improved quality of physiotherapy care in patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders: Results based on 16 years of routinely collected data.

Quality improvement is now a central tenet in physiotherapy care, and quality indicators (QIs), as measurable elements of care, have been applied to analyze and evaluate the quality of physiotherapy care over the past two decades. QIs, based on Donabedian's model of quality of care, provide a foundation for measuring (improvements in) quality of physiotherapy care, providing insight into the many remaining evidentiary gaps concerning diagnostics, prognostics and treatment, as well as patient-related outcome measures. In this overview we provide a synthesis of four recently published articles from our project group on the topic of quantitative measures of quality improvement in physiotherapy care, in this context specifically focused on patients with WAD in primary care physiotherapy.

Development and internal validation of prognostic models for recovery in patients with non-specific neck pain presenting in primary care.

Objectives: Development and internal validation of prognostic models for post-treatment and 1-year recovery in patients with neck pain in primary care.

Design: Prospective cohort study.

Setting: Primary care manual therapy practices.

Clinical characteristics differ between patients with non-traumatic neck pain, patients with whiplash-associated disorders, and pain-free individuals.

Background: Evidence is lacking to what extent patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders (WAD), those with non-traumatic neck pain (NTNP), and pain-free individuals differ regarding type and severity of impairments, disability, and psychological factors.

Objective: To compare clinical characteristics between patients with WAD, with NTNP, and pain-free individuals in primary care physiotherapy. Additionally, differences between patient groups for both acute and chronic symptoms were assessed.

The Non-injured Leg Can Be Used as a Reference for the Injured Leg in Single-legged Hop Tests.

Background: Single-legged hop tests are frequently used in substantiating return to sport decisions following lower extremity injury. Evidence for using the non-injured leg as a reference for the injured leg in the return to sport decision-making at the criterion-based point of return to sport following lower extremity injury is lacking.

Purpose: To compare absolute values in single-legged hop tests between the non-injured leg of athletes returning to high-impact sports after lower extremity injury and the matched leg of healthy athletes.

External validation of prognostic models for recovery in patients with neck pain.

Background: Neck pain is one of the leading causes of disability in most countries and it is likely to increase further. Numerous prognostic models for people with neck pain have been developed, few have been validated. In a recent systematic review, external validation of three promising models was advised before they can be used in clinical practice.

Pre- and postmatch hop test outcomes in soccer players returning to performance after lower extremity injury.

Background: Most soccer injuries concern the lower extremity with a higher injury rate during the second half of matches. In advising safe return to sport, hop tests are usually assessed at the point of return to sport under non-fatigued conditions. No studies exist investigating hop test outcomes before and after a match in soccer players returning to performance after lower extremity injury and non-injured teammates.

Illness perceptions as an independent predictor of chronic low back pain and pain-related disability: a prospective cohort study.

Objectives: To investigate whether illness perceptions, measured with the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire, are an independent predictor of chronic low back pain and pain-related disability at 12 weeks.

Design: A prospective, observational cohort study.

Setting: 26 outpatient primary care physiotherapy practices throughout the Netherlands.

Psychological assessments by manual physiotherapists in the Netherlands in patients with nonspecific low back pain.

: Clinical Practice Guidelines for low back pain emphasize implementing assessment and addressing of psychosocial context. It is unknown to what extent manual physiotherapists incorporate psychological factors in their diagnostic management of patients with nonspecific low back pain.: An online survey among Dutch manual physiotherapists was conducted exploring the use of 10 psychological constructs.

Challenges and solutions in prognostic prediction models in spinal disorders.

Methodological shortcomings in prognostic modeling for patients with spinal disorders are highly common. This general commentary discusses methodological challenges related to the specific nature of this field. Five specific methodological challenges in prognostic modeling for patients with spinal disorders are presented with their potential solutions, as related to the choice of study participants, purpose of studies, limitations in measurements of outcomes and predictors, complexity of recovery predictions, and confusion of prognosis and treatment response.

Clinical Characteristics and Patient-Reported Outcomes of Primary Care Physiotherapy in Patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders: A Longitudinal Observational Study.

Background: Whiplash-associated disorders (WADs) constitute a state of health characterized by a wide diversity of symptoms as a result of impairments of functions, activity limitations, and participation restrictions. Patient-reported outcome measurements (PROMs) and patient-reported outcomes (PROs) seem appropriate when describing and evaluating the health status of patients with WAD.

Aim: To measure the use of PROMs and PROs as quality indicators in clinical reasoning, and to analyze and evaluate pre- and post-treatment 'pain intensity' and 'functioning', and for 'perceived improvement' in patients with WAD in primary care physiotherapy practice by year of referral, with the phase after accident and prognostic health profile embedded in the clinical reasoning process.

Association between Functional Performance and Return to Performance in High-Impact Sports after Lower Extremity Injury: A Systematic Review.

After lower extremity injury, only half of the injured athletes return to their pre-injury sports level. Even though functional performance tests are often used to make return to sport decisions, it is unknown whether functional performance is associated with return to performance after such injuries. The aim of this systematic review was to identify, critically appraise, and analyze studies that investigated the association of functional performance tests with return to performance after lower extremity injuries in athletes participating in high-impact sports.

Cervical kinematics estimated by finite helical axis behaviour differs in patients with neck related problems as compared to healthy controls.

Unlabelled: Purpose The present study analyses the kinematics of patients with neck problems and healthy controls by estimation of Finite Helical Axis behaviour. A cross sectional study design was used to investigate whether FHA behaviour differs due to neck problems.

Methods: 584 subjects were recruited from private and ambulatory institutional physiotherapy practices.

Relationships Between Context, Process, and Outcome Indicators to Assess Quality of Physiotherapy Care in Patients with Whiplash-Associated Disorders: Applying Donabedian's Model of Care.

Background: Quality indicators (QIs) are measurable elements of practice performance and may relate to context, process, outcome and structure. A valid set of QIs have been developed, reflecting the clinical reasoning used in primary care physiotherapy for patients with whiplash-associated disorders (WAD). Donabedian's model postulates relationships between the constructs of quality of care, acting in a virtuous circle.

State anxiety improves prediction of pain and pain-related disability after 12 weeks in patients with acute low back pain: a cohort study.

Question: Do measures of state anxiety and trait anxiety in people with acute low back pain (ALBP) improve prediction of chronic low back pain (CLBP), defined as pain or pain-related disability at 12 weeks?

Design: Observational multi-centre prospective cohort study in primary physiotherapy care with measurements at baseline and at 12 weeks of state and trait anxiety, as well as other established prognostic factors for CLBP.

Participants: People with nonspecific ALBP, aged 18 to 60 years, who had been pain free for ≥ 3 months before their current ALBP, and who were being treated according the Dutch clinical guidelines.

Outcome Measures And Analysis: CLBP was defined as a pain score ≥ 3/10 on the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (primary outcome), and as a pain-related disability score ≥ 19/70 on the Pain Disability Inventory.

TRANSLATION AND VALIDATION OF THE DUTCH INJURY PSYCHOLOGICAL READINESS TO RETURN TO SPORT SCALE (I-PRRS).

Background: In facilitating and predicting successful return to sport (RTS), not only are physical factors important, but also the athlete's psychological status. No questionnaire in the Dutch language exists for measuring psychological readiness for RTS after injuries in general.

Purpose: To translate and validate the Injury-Psychological Readiness to Return to Sport scale into the Dutch language.