Effects of Neck-Specific Exercises Compared to Waiting List for Individuals With Chronic Whiplash-Associated Disorders: A Prospective, Randomized Controlled Study.

OBJECTIVE To determine whether 3 months of neck-specific exercises (NSEs) could benefit individuals with chronic whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) who were on a waiting list (WL) for treatment. DESIGN A prospective, randomized controlled study. SETTING Primary health care. PARTICIPANTS Individuals (N=41; 31 women, 10 men; mean age ± SD, 38±11.2y) with chronic (6-36mo) WAD, grades 2 and 3, were analyzed. INTERVENTIONS Patients were randomly assigned to NSEs or no treatment for 3 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES Neck-specific disability (Neck Disability Index [NDI]), neck pain (visual analog scale), general pain-related disability (Pain Disability Index [PDI]), self-perceived performance ability (Self-Efficacy Scale [SES]), and health-related quality of life (EuroQol 5 dimensions [EQ-5D]) were measured. RESULTS NSEs significantly improved the NDI, SES, and EQ-5D compared with WL (P<.01). There was significant improvement (P<.0001) over time in all outcomes for NSEs, and apart from the PDI, significant worsening (P=.002-.0002) over time for the untreated group. CONCLUSIONS NSEs were more beneficial than no intervention while on a WL for individuals with chronic WAD.