Comparison of conventional treatment versus conventional treatment with motor imagery in patients with chronic neck pain : A Randomised Controlled Trial

Chronic neck pain is the pain that the patient experiences for longer than 12 weeks. According to Childs et al., 10%–20% of people report having neck issues at any one moment, with 54% of people reporting experiencing neck pain in the previous six months. Patients with chronic neck pain experience maladaptive neuroplasticity in the primary somatosensory cortex along with this, it causes changes in cortical proprioceptive representations that facilitates the execution, coordination and planning there by leading to impaired motor performance of individuals. Hence, focusing on these changes as a result of chronic pain is important to enhance the motor performance of patients. This study aims to assess the effectiveness of adding motor imagery to conventional treatment on pain intensity, disability, kinesiophobia and ROM in the patients with Chronic neck pain. 52 patients with chronic neck pain fulfilling the inclusion criteria will be recruited in the study and will be assessed for the following parameters which include Pain using Numerical Pain Rating Scale, cervical range of motion using Inclinometer, Disability using Neck Disability Index, and Kinesiophobia using Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia -11. Patients will be randomized into 2 groups

: 1)Experimental group receiving motor imagery(imagining painful activities mentioned in PSFS and head nods, prone head lifts and ROM exercises) with conventional treatment exercises and 2)Control group receiving conventional treatment (ROM exercises, Prone head lifts, head nods, serratus anterior strengthening and shoulder shrugs). Patients in both groups will be called for 3 times a week for a period of 3 week and they will perform 3 sets of 10 repetitions and 2 times a day of the given exercise. Post assessment will be taken at the end of 3rd week. All of data will be collected and compared. Categorical data will be summarized using frequency and percentage. Normality will be checked using Shapiro Wilk Test. Inter Group Analysis depending on normality, Independent T Test (Parametric) or Mann Whitney (Non Parametric) will be used to compare Pain (Numerical Pain Rating Scale), Kinesiophobia (TAMPA scale), Disability (Neck Disability Index) and Cervical ROM (Inclinometer). Intra Group Analysis depending on normality, Paired T Test (Parametric) or Wilcoxon Signed Rank test (Non-Parametric) will be used to compare Pain (Numerical Pain Rating Scale), Kinesiophobia (TAMPA scale), Disability (Neck Disability Index) and Cervical ROM (Inclinometer). A 2-tailed P < 0.05 will be considered to be statistically significant. Statistical analysis will be performed by appropriate statistical tests using IBM SPSS v26 (statistical package for social sciences) software.