Table 2.
Characteristics of Patients with Chronic Neck Pain Who Endorsed Each Treatment Goal
| Prevent pain from coming back 113 (16%) | Prevent pain from getting worse 89 (12%) | Ease pain or make it temporarily go away 299 (41%) | Make pain go away permanently (cure) 228 (31%) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Characteristics of pain | ||||
| Rating of neck pain past 7 days (0–10)a | 3.0 (2.1) | 3.8 (2.0) | 4.1 (2.1) | 4.2 (2.0) |
| Neck Disability Index score (0–100)a | 18.0 (10.9) | 21.3 (13.6) | 23.7 (13.2) | 23.4 (10.9) |
| Have both CLBP and CNP | 61 (54.0%) | 57 (64.0%) | 191 (63.9%) | 128 (56.1%) |
| Years of paina | ||||
| Less than 1 year | 19 (16.8%) | 4 (4.5%) | 20 (6.7%) | 44 (19.3%) |
| 1 to <2 Years | 6 (5.3%) | 3 (3.4%) | 7 (2.3%) | 22 (9.6%) |
| 2 to <5 Years | 21 (18.6%) | 13 (14.6%) | 37 (12.4%) | 47 (20.6%) |
| 5 to <10 Years | 19 (16.8%) | 17 (19.1%) | 59 (19.7%) | 40 (17.5%) |
| 10+ Years | 48 (42.5%) | 47 (52.8%) | 167 (55.9%) | 70 (30.7%) |
| Unknown | 0 (0.0%) | 5 (5.6%) | 9 (3.0%) | 5 (2.2%) |
| Beliefs about their pain | ||||
| What neck pain would have beena | 6.1 (2.6) | 7.0 (2.2) | 6.9 (2.2) | 7.1 (2.1) |
| Believe their neck pain is chronica | 76 (67.3%) | 72 (80.9%) | 208 (69.6%) | 131 (57.5%) |
| Chronic pain will never go away: Agree to strongly agreea | 22 (19.5%) | 35 (39.3%) | 102 (34.1%) | 46 (20.2%) |
| It is important to understand what causes my pain: Agree to strongly agree | 109 (96.5%) | 81 (91.0%) | 280 (93.6%) | 222 (97.4%) |
| It's unsafe for someone with my condition to be physically active: Agree to strongly agree | 4 (3.5%) | 7 (7.9%) | 6 (2.0%) | 9 (3.9%) |
| Perceived control over pain (0–4) | 2.3 (0.6) | 2.1 (0.7) | 2.1 (0.7) | 2.2 (0.7) |
| Appropriateness of medications (0–4) | 0.9 (0.8) | 1.2 (1.0) | 1.1 (0.9) | 1.0 (0.8) |
| Belief in a medical curea (0–4) | 2.5 (0.9) | 2.0 (0.8) | 2.0 (0.8) | 2.6 (0.8) |
| Treatment goals regarding mobility and flexibilitya | ||||
| Expect complete return to original levels | 36 (31.9%) | 12 (13.5%) | 51 (17.1%) | 97 (42.5%) |
| Expect my mobility/flexibility to improve soon after | 54 (47.8%) | 31 (34.8%) | 151 (50.5%) | 79 (34.6%) |
| Expect to learn how to ensure they don't get worse | 19 (16.8%) | 36 (40.4%) | 65 (21.7%) | 23 (10.1%) |
| My mobility and flexibility not affected by my pain | 4 (3.5%) | 10 (11.2%) | 32 (10.7%) | 29 (12.7%) |
| Demographics | ||||
| Average age in yearsb | 45.8 (12.1) | 50.9 (12.2) | 45.8 (13.6) | 44.4 (12.9) |
| Age (categorized)c | ||||
| Less than 30 years | 9 (8.0%) | 5 (5.6%) | 38 (12.7%) | 31 (13.6%) |
| 30–49 Years | 58 (51.3%) | 31 (34.8%) | 137 (45.8%) | 112 (49.1%) |
| 50–64 Years | 36 (31.9%) | 42 (47.2%) | 91 (30.4%) | 69 (30.3%) |
| 65+ Years | 10 (8.8%) | 11 (12.4%) | 33 (11.0%) | 16 (7.0%) |
| Gender: Female | 85 (75.2%) | 74 (83.1%) | 240 (80.3%) | 191 (83.8%) |
| Education: At least a 4-year degreec | 71 (62.8%) | 41 (46.1%) | 187 (62.5%) | 131 (57.5%) |
| Psychological variables | ||||
| Pain management self-efficacy (1–10) | 8.0 (1.6) | 7.5 (1.9) | 7.6 (1.7) | 7.7 (1.7) |
| Expect chiropractic very–extremely successfulb | 98 (86.7%) | 60 (67.4%) | 217 (72.6%) | 183 (80.3%) |
| Expect a lot to quite a bit of improvementa | 79 (69.9%) | 43 (48.3%) | 178 (59.5%) | 162 (71.1%) |
| Worry about pain: Mod to all the time | 14 (12.4%) | 16 (18.0%) | 43 (14.4%) | 43 (18.9%) |
| Has depression based on PROMIS items | 23 (20.4%) | 22 (24.7%) | 80 (26.8%) | 61 (26.8%) |
| Catastrophizing (0–12 scale)c | 1.6 (1.9) | 2.4 (2.4) | 2.3 (2.4) | 2.2 (2.3) |
a
Values across treatment goals differ significantly at p < 0.001.
b
Values across treatment goals differ significantly at p < 0.01.
c
Values across treatment goals differ significantly at p < 0.05.