The Impact of Pain Neuroscience Education on Physical Therapy Student's Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs, and Behaviours Towards Pain

NCT06821022 | Completed

• 1 other identifier: 33/1/2024/2025
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 120
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

This study investigates the effect of pain neuroscience education (PNE) on pain knowledge, attitudes, beliefs and behaviors among undergraduate physiotherapy students in Jordan

Conditions

Healthy Subjects

Keywords

Pain; Physiotherapy students; Attitudes; Education; Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE); The Revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (RNPQ); The 13-item Modified Health Care Providers Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS); Guideline-Concordant Low Back Pain Vignette (GCLBP-V; de novo)

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• Revised Pain Neurophysiology Questionnaire (RNPQ)

  The 12-item RNPQ will be used to assess knowledge of pain neurophysiology. Responses are marked yes, no or undecided. One point is awarded for correct answers. Scores range from 0 to 12, with high scores indicating good knowledge.

  Before and immediately after and 6 months after the education session

• The modified HC-PAIRS

  The modified HC-PAIRS (Health Care Providers' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale will be used to measure attitudes and beliefs towards patients with chronic pain and their ability to function. This 13-item questionnaire uses a 7-point Likert scale (strongly disagree to strongly agree). Scores range from 13 to 91 with lower scores suggesting more positive attitudes.

  Prior to and immediately and 6 months after the education session

Secondary Outcomes (1)

• Case vignette to measure behavior (clinical recommendations).

  Before and immediately and 6 months after the education session

Other Outcomes (1)

• LBP Red-Flags Knowledge Quiz (10-item)

  Baseline, Post, and 6 months after lecture control session

Study Arms (2)

Pain Neuroscience Education

EXPERIMENTAL

Other: Pain Neuroscience Education

Red Flags Education

ACTIVE COMPARATOR

Interventions

Pain Neuroscience Education OTHER

The intervention group will receive a lecture of 70min duration on pain neuroscience. The objective of this educational session is to educate students that pain can be overprotective, and that nociceptive transmission can be heavily influenced by central sensitisation (sensitivity of the central nervous system) as well as the thoughts and beliefs of the individual. The session used drawings, stories and metaphors to depict the underlying neuroscience of pain, and current pain theory.

Pain Neuroscience Education

Red Flags Education OTHER

The control group received an education session of red flags. Red flags form part of routine subjective practice for therapists as a process of screening serious or potentially sinister pathologies. Sign and symptoms for such pathologies include history of cancer, systemic symptoms such as fever or unexplained weight loss, and saddle analgesia. The red flag session will not include the neuroscience of pain.

Eligibility Criteria

• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Child (0-17), Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Physiotherapy undergraduate students at the Hashemite University

You may not qualify if:

• Previous formal pain education
• Enrolled in a clinical practice module

Sponsors & Collaborators

• The Hashemite University: lead

Study Sites (1)

The Hashemite University

Zarqa, Zarqa Governorate, 13133, Jordan

Location

Related Publications (1)

• Colleary G, O'Sullivan K, Griffin D, Ryan CG, Martin DJ. Effect of pain neurophysiology education on physiotherapy students' understanding of chronic pain, clinical recommendations and attitudes towards people with chronic pain: a randomised controlled trial. Physiotherapy. 2017 Dec;103(4):423-429. doi: 10.1016/j.physio.2017.01.006. Epub 2017 Mar 22.

  PMID: 28797666 BACKGROUND

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Pain; Behavior

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neurologic Manifestations; Signs and Symptoms; Pathological Conditions, Signs and Symptoms

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: DOUBLE
• Who Masked: PARTICIPANT, OUTCOMES ASSESSOR
• Purpose: HEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
• PI Title: Assistant Professor

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: February 6, 2025
• First Posted: February 11, 2025
• Study Start: February 15, 2024
• Primary Completion: November 17, 2025
• Study Completion: November 17, 2025
• Last Updated: November 26, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-11

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share
• Shared Documents: SAP
• Time Frame: After being published, the dataset and/or the statistical analyses will be made available for interested researchers upon reasonable request.
• Access Criteria: After being published, the dataset and/or the statistical analyses will be made available for interested researchers upon reasonable request.

Locations

JO (1)