[Effectiveness of an individualised physiotherapy program versus group therapy on neck pain and disability in patients with acute and subacute mechanical neck pain].

Objective: To compare the efficacy in reducing neck pain and disability in an individualised physiotherapy treatment with group treatment in acute and subacute mechanical neck pain.

Design: Randomised clinical trial.

Location: Health Area of University Hospital Virgen del Rocío, Seville, Spain.

Participants: A total of 90 patients diagnosed with mechanical neck pain of up to one month onset, distributed randomly into two groups: (i)individualised treatment; (ii)group treatment.

Intervention: The treatment consisted of 15 sessions of about 60minutes for both groups. Individual treatment consisted of 15minutes of infrared heat therapy, 17minutes of massage, and analytical passive stretching of the trapezius muscles and angle of the scapula. The group treatment consisted of a program of active mobilisation, isometric contractions, self-stretching, and postural recommendations.

Main Measures: Pain was measured at the beginning and end of treatment pain using a Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and an algometer applied on the trapezius muscles and angle of the scapula, and neck disability using the Neck Disability Index.

Results: Both treatments were statistically significant (P<.001) in improving all variables. Statistically significant differences (P<.001) were found for all of them in favour of individualised treatment compared to group treatment.

Conclusions: Patients with acute or subacute mechanical neck pain experienced an improvement in pain and neck disability after receiving either of the physiotherapy treatments used in our study, with the individual treatment being more effective than collective.