Effectiveness of Jingjin Therapy for Non-Specific Chronic Neck Pain with Extension Dysfunction: A Randomised Controlled Trial.

Abstract

Purpose: To evaluate whether Jingjin therapy, a distal manual intervention, could accelerate extension dysfunction for non-specific chronic neck pain (NCNP).

Patients and methods: In this single-centre, two-arm randomised controlled trial, we enrolled Chinese patients aged 20-60 years with active neck extension disorder, regardless of prior exposure to manual therapy. We randomly assigned 160 patients to one of the following two arms: Jingjin therapy or general manual therapy. Both groups underwent six treatment sessions: the first three sessions were administered daily, and the last three sessions were administered every other day. The primary outcome was the between-group difference in the angle of active neck extension after the sixth treatment and 1 week after treatment. A repeated-measures linear mixed-effects model was used to assess between-group differences in outcome indices, with group allocation and treatment time points treated as fixed effects and participants as random effects.

Results: The change in the angle of active neck extension from baseline to the sixth treatment session was significant for Jingjin therapy (mean: 29.75° to 51.97°) and general manual therapy (mean: 28.18° to 52.49°). Further, the between-group difference was minimal (mean -0.26°, 95% confidence interval, -2.62°, 2.09°) and not statistically significant (P = 0.828).

Conclusion: Jingjin therapy for 9 days significantly improved neck extension function in patients with NCNP, with no significant difference compared to general manual therapy.

Clinical trial registry id: ChiCTR2300068892.