Qigong and Exercise for Neck Pain in Adults (QENA)

Prospective, Randomized Controlled Trial on the Effectiveness of Qigong and Exercise Therapy in Patients With Chronic Neck Pain

The purpose of this study is to assess the effectiveness of qigong for the treatment of chronic neck pain compared to exercise therapy and waiting list group.

Inclusion Criteria:

• clinical diagnosis of chronic neck pain since at least 6 months and complaints for a maximum duration of 5 years
• neck pain more prominent than other pain in the spine
• average pain intensity of the last 7 days more or equal to 40 mm measured by a visual analogue scale (VAS 0 - 100 mm)
• normal mobility of the cervical spine
• intellectual and physical ability to participate in the study
• informed consent

Exclusion Criteria:

• cervical pain related to malignancy
• cervical pain due to an accident
• inflammatory joint disorders
• previous spine surgery
• protrusion/prolapse of a spinal disk, spondylolisthesis, with radicular symptomatology
• actually doing or planning to do other regular physical exercise during the study with possible positive effects on neck pain - such as swimming, yoga, pilates, tai chi, etc.
• use of pain drugs for other diseases (> 1x/week)
• pregnancy
• severe chronic or acute disease interfering with therapy attendance
• alcohol or substance abuse
• participation in another clinical trial in the last 6 months before study entry