The Department of Sports and Health Science, Nanjing Sport Institute, Nanjing, Jiangsu, China.
School of Physical Education and Nursing, Chengdu College of Arts and Sciences, Sichuan, China.
PLoS One. 2024 Nov 22;19(11):e0313526. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0313526. eCollection 2024.
Self-care-oriented positive approach are very important for the management of chronic neck pain. To evaluate the clinical efficacy of the Alexander Technique (AT) courses on pain and adverse events in chronic non-specific neck pain (CNSNP), compared to the conventional therapy.
We evaluated the effects of the AT in the treatment of the CNSNP according to PICO (participant, intervention, comparison, outcome) elements. In this paper, we have utilized some English databases. Totally 140 records are included in the Cochrane Library (43), PubMed (18), Web of Science (27), EBSCO (21), EMBESE (31). The search dated from the day of the database's inception to June, 2024. Those parameters like Weighted mean differences (WMD), Standardized mean difference (SMD) and 95% confidence intervals (Cis) are calculated. A random-effects model is applied to minimize the heterogeneity, and I2 test is used to assess heterogeneity, the risk of bias of RCTs studies included are assessed by the PEDro tools.
A total of three studies (Two RCTs and a quasi-randomized trial) are included in this paper based on the predetermined eligibility criteria. Compared with the conventional therapy group, the included studies collectively show that the AT can provide a significant pain relief in CNSNP, whose effects can last for 2 months with a very low heterogeneity (immediate term pain score: SMD: -0.34, 95%CI: -0.87-0.19, P = 0.208, I2 = 0.0%; short term pain score: SMD: -0.33, 95%CI: -0.55-0.10, P = 0.005, I2 = 0%). In addition, compared with the conventional therapy group, the AT does not significantly increase the incidence of adverse events (AE: RR = 1.690, 95% CI: 0.67-4.27, P = 0.267, I2 = 44.3%).
This meta-analysis preliminarily indicated that the Alexander Technique courses may not have a significant pain relief effective in patients with chronic Non-specific neck pain, which is related to the follow-up time of the post-intervention. However, it's necessary to interpret and apply the outcome of this research cautiously.
PROSPERO, CRD420222361001.
以自我护理为导向的积极方法对慢性颈痛的管理非常重要。为了评估亚历山大技术（AT）课程对慢性非特异性颈痛（CNSNP）的疼痛和不良事件的临床疗效，与常规治疗相比。
我们根据 PICO（参与者、干预、比较、结果）要素评估 AT 在 CNSNP 治疗中的作用。在本文中，我们利用了一些英文数据库。总共纳入了 Cochrane 图书馆（43 项）、PubMed（18 项）、Web of Science（27 项）、EBSCO（21 项）、EMBASESE（31 项）的 140 条记录。搜索日期从数据库创建之日起至 2024 年 6 月。计算加权均数差（WMD）、标准化均数差（SMD）和 95%置信区间（Cis）等参数。应用随机效应模型可最大限度地减少异质性，I2 检验用于评估异质性，纳入的 RCT 研究的偏倚风险采用 PEDro 工具进行评估。
根据预定的纳入标准，本文共纳入三项研究（两项 RCT 和一项半随机试验）。与常规治疗组相比，纳入的研究总体表明，AT 可显著缓解 CNSNP 疼痛，其效果可持续 2 个月，异质性非常低（即刻期疼痛评分：SMD：-0.34，95%CI：-0.87-0.19，P=0.208，I2=0.0%；短期疼痛评分：SMD：-0.33，95%CI：-0.55-0.10，P=0.005，I2=0%）。此外，与常规治疗组相比，AT 并未显著增加不良事件（AE）的发生率（RR=1.690，95%CI：0.67-4.27，P=0.267，I2=44.3%）。
这项荟萃分析初步表明，亚历山大技术课程可能对慢性非特异性颈痛患者的疼痛缓解没有显著效果，这与干预后随访时间有关。然而，有必要谨慎解释和应用这一研究结果。
PROSPERO，CRD420222361001。
