Sensorimotor exercises are efficient to reduce pain and disability in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain and are relevant in patients’ treatment: a systematic review.

Background: Neck pain is the 4th leading cause of disability in the world and is the source of a significant socio-economic cost. Given the high rate of recurrence and chronicity, it is important to question the effectiveness of treatments and specifically sensorimotor exercises (SME) that have been notably developed over the last two decades. Objective: The aim of this systematic review is to evaluate and give an overview of the effects of SME for patients with non-specific neck pain. Method: According to PRISMA guidelines, a comprehensive search was conducted by two independent reviewers in seven databases (AMED, Cochrane, Embase, PEDro, PubMed, ScienceDirect and Scopus). Studies published in English from 2005 onwards and matching PICOS criteria were included. Due to the heterogeneity of the data, only a qualitative study was conducted. Results: Nine RCT including 519 subjects met the eligibility criteria. Quality of studies was high with a PEDro score ≥ 6 for each study. This review provides evidence of the effectiveness of SME on pain (7/8), disability (4/5), sensorimotor function (2/3), CCFT performance (2/2), muscle activity and fatigue (3/3) and range of motion (1/3). Conclusion: This systematic review highlights that SME can have beneficial effects in the management of patients with non-specific chronic neck pain. Future research with larger samples are needed to confirm these results and investigate the superiority of one intervention over another.