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Most people who have nonspecific chronic spinal pain (nCSP) report comorbid insomnia. However, in current treatment strategies for nCSP insomnia is usually not addressed. Considering the bidirectional interaction between pain and sleep and its underlying psychophysiological mechanisms, insomnia may increase the risk of developing adverse physical and psychological health outcomes and should thus no longer be left untreated. As suggested by previous pilot studies, adding cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia to the contemporary evidence-based biopsychosocial physical therapy approach may also improve pain outcomes in nCSP. This manuscript aims to provide practical guidelines on hybrid physical therapy, including the combination of the following components: (1) pain neuroscience education (eg, to reconceptualize pain) and cognition-targeted exercise therapy (eg, graded exposure to functional daily life movements), and (2) cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (sleep psychoeducation, behavioral and cognitive therapy, correction of sleep hygiene, and relaxation therapy) can be deployed for the management of patients who have chronic spinal pain. Impact. Due to the major impact sleep disturbances have on pain and disability, insomnia as a comorbidity should no longer be ignored when treating patients with chronic spinal pain. Keywords: Chronic Spinal Pain, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, Insomnia, Introduction Chronic idiopathic low back or neck pain, failed back surgery syndrome (ie, no resolution of symptoms despite anatomically successful surgery >3 years ago), and chronic whiplash-associated disorders present for [...]

Background. Pain neuroscience education (PNE) combined with cognition-targeted exercises is an effective treatment for people with chronic spinal pain (CSP). However, it is unclear why some patients benefit more from this treatment. We expect that patients with more pronounced maladaptive pain cognitions, such as kinesiophobia, might show poorer treatment responses. Objective. The objective of this study was to assess the influence of baseline kinesiophobia levels on the treatment outcomes of PNE combined with cognition-targeted exercises in people with CSP. This study was a secondary analysis of a multicenter, double-blind, randomized controlled trial. Methods. Outcome measures included a numeric rating scale for pain (NRS), the Pain Disability Index (PDI), quality of life (Medical Outcomes Study 36-Item Health Survey [SF-36]), Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS), and Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire (PVAQ). Regression models were built using treatment (PNE plus cognition-targeted exercises or neck/back school plus general exercises), baseline scores on the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK), and time (in months) as independent variables. Results. A significant 3-way interaction effect was found for the models of PDI, PCS, PVAQ, and the SF-36 mental domain, with estimates of -0.01, -0.01, -0.01, and 0.07, respectively. A significant effect of baseline TSK scores was found for the physical domain of the SF-36 (estimate = -3.16). For the NRS, no significant effect of baseline TSK scores was found. Conclusion. Our findings indicate that PNE plus cognition-targeted exercises can successfully decrease the unfavorable influence of pretreatment kinesiophobia on disability, mental health, pain catastrophizing, and hypervigilance over time in people with CSP. Nevertheless, higher scores in pretreatment kinesiophobia might still be a key factor for the lack of improvement in pain catastrophizing and hypervigilance following treatment. Regardless of the followed treatment program, pretreatment kinesiophobia was also shown to significantly influence physical health in people with CSP. Impact. This study provides novel insight into the unfavorable influence of kinesiophobia on treatment outcomes in people with CSP, and how PNE plus cognition-targeted exercises can limit this impact. Because this is one of the first studies to research possible predictors of this experimental treatment, its findings motivate further exploration of other possible influencing factors for treatment success of PNE plus cognition-targeted exercises. Lay Summary. People with chronic spinal pain and high levels of fear of movement were found to have worse treatment outcomes compared to people with low levels of fear of movement. However, our experimental treatment, which includes pain neuroscience education combined with exercise therapy that reintroduces specific movements patients might fear, can decrease this negative influence of fear of movement in these patients. Keywords: Chronic Pain, Exercise Therapy, Kinesiophobia, Low Back Pain, Neck Pain, Patient Education, Introduction Chronic spinal pain (CSP) is an umbrella term for 2 highly prevalent chronic musculoskeletal pain conditions: neck pain and low back pain. (1-4) Therefore, it goes without saying that [...]

Among people with chronic pain, insomnia is highly prevalent, closely related to the mechanism of central sensitization, characterized by low-grade neuroinflammation, and commonly associated with stress or anxiety; in addition, it often does not respond effectively to drug treatments. This review article applies the current understanding of insomnia to clinical practice, including assessment and conservative treatment of insomnia in people with chronic pain. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia can be efficacious for improvements in sleep initiation, sleep maintenance, perceived sleep quality, and pain interference with daily functioning in people with chronic pain. A recent systematic review concluded that with additional training, physical therapist-led cognitive-behavioral interventions are efficacious for low back pain, allowing their implementation within the field. Cognitive-behavioral therapy for insomnia, as provided to people with chronic pain, typically includes education, sleep restriction measures, stimulus control instructions, sleep hygiene, and cognitive therapy., Conservative and pharmacological strategies for chronic pain management offer, at best, modest effect sizes in reducing pain and related disabilities (1-3); thus, there is a need for improved care. A [...]

Background. Available evidence favors the use of pain neuroscience education (PNE) in patients with chronic pain. However, PNE trials are often limited to small sample sizes and, despite the current digital era, the effects of blended-learning PNE (ie, the combination of online digital media with traditional educational methods) have not yet been investigated. Objective. The study objective was to examine whether blended-learning PNE is able to improve disability, catastrophizing, kinesiophobia, and illness perceptions. Design. This study was a 2-center, triple-blind randomized controlled trial (participants, statistician, and outcome assessor were masked). Setting. The study took place at university hospitals in Ghent and Brussels, Belgium. Participants. Participants were 120 people with nonspecific chronic spinal pain (ie, chronic neck pain and low back pain). Intervention. The intervention was 3 sessions of PNE or biomedically focused back/neck school education (addressing spinal anatomy and physiology). Measurements. Measurements were self-report questionnaires (Pain Disability Index, Pain Catastrophizing Scale, Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia, Illness Perception Questionnaire, and Pain Vigilance and Awareness Questionnaire). Results. None of the treatment groups showed a significant change in the perceived disability (Pain Disability Index) due to pain (mean group difference posteducation: 1.84; 95% CI = -2.80 to 6.47). Significant interaction effects were seen for kinesiophobia and several subscales of the Illness Perception Questionnaire, including negative consequences, cyclical time line, and acute/chronic time line. In-depth analysis revealed that only in the PNE group were these outcomes significantly improved (9% to 17% improvement; 0.37 [less than or equal to] Cohen d [greater than or equal to] 0.86). Limitations. Effect sizes are small to moderate, which might raise the concern of limited clinical utility; however, changes in kinesiophobia exceed the minimal detectable difference. PNE should not be used as the sole treatment modality but should be combined with other treatment strategies. Conclusions. Blended-learning PNE was able to improve kinesiophobia and illness perceptions in participants with chronic spinal pain. As effect sizes remained small to medium, PNE should not be used as a sole treatment but rather should be used as a key element within a comprehensive active rehabilitation program. Future studies should compare the effects of blended-learning PNE with offline PNE and should consider cost-effectiveness., Chronic spinal pain accounts for a large proportion of the chronic pain population and is generally perceived as highly disabling with tremendous personal, social and economic impact. (1-4) Within the [...]