A Randomized Controlled Trial of Different Single Pain Education Sessions in Middle School Students: Immediate Effects

March 2, 2020 • Pain Science • Adriaan Louw, Jessie Podolak

EIM’s pain science team has a new research paper published in the Journal of Physiotherapy Pain Association. The team studied a single session of Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) to determine its effect on middle school students’ pain knowledge, beliefs regarding pain and fear of physical activity, as compared to traditional biomedical education.

Here are some key takeaways:

This was a multi-school randomized controlled trial set at 16 private and public 7th grade classrooms, and included 419 7th grade students.
Students received either a 30-minute PNE or traditional education in-person lecture by a physical therapist. Prior to and immediately following the lectures, students completed a knowledge of pain questionnaire (Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire – NPQ), fear of physical activity (Fear-Avoidance Beliefs Questionnaire Physical Activity subscale – FABQ-PA) and beliefs regarding pain questionnaire.
Conclusions: A PNE lecture to middle school students, compared to TE focusing on biomedical education results in significant immediate differences in regards to pain knowledge, fear of physical activity in the presence of pain and various beliefs regarding pain.

Reference: Louw, A; Podolak, J; Benz, P; Landrus, R; DeLorenzo, J; Davis, C; Rogers, A; Cooper, K; Kruse, A; Kruse, B and Zimney, K. Pain and Rehabilitation Journal; (47); Summer 2019; 14-24.

Adriaan Louw

Adriaan earned his undergraduate, master’s degree and PhD in physiotherapy from the University of Stellenbosch in Cape Town, South Africa. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nevada Las Vegas, teaching pain science. Adriaan has taught throughout the US and internationally for 25 years at numerous national and international manual therapy, pain...

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Jessie Podolak

Jessie Podolak, PT, DPT, Fellow of Pain Sciences, has been practicing physical therapy since 1998. She is the owner/operator of a direct-pay physical therapy practice in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, specializing in the treatment of individuals with complex and/or chronic pain. She assisted in developing and served as the program director for Evidence in Motion’s Pain...