• Anneli Peolsson, Landén Ludvigsson Maria M Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden; Rehab Väst, County Council of Öst, Ann-Marie Tigerfors, and Gunnel Peterson.
• Department of Medical and Health Sciences, Division of Physiotherapy, Linköping University, Linköping, Sweden. Electronic address: Anneli.Peolsson@liu.se.
• Arch Phys Med Rehabil. 2016 Feb 1; 97 (2): 189-95.

ObjectiveTo determine whether 3 months of neck-specific exercises (NSEs) could benefit individuals with chronic whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) who were on a waiting list (WL) for treatment.DesignA prospective, randomized controlled study.SettingPrimary health care.ParticipantsIndividuals (N=41; 31 women, 10 men; mean age ± SD, 38±11.2y) with chronic (6-36mo) WAD, grades 2 and 3, were analyzed.InterventionsPatients were randomly assigned to NSEs or no treatment for 3 months.Main Outcome MeasuresNeck-specific disability (Neck Disability Index [NDI]), neck pain (visual analog scale), general pain-related disability (Pain Disability Index [PDI]), self-perceived performance ability (Self-Efficacy Scale [SES]), and health-related quality of life (EuroQol 5 dimensions [EQ-5D]) were measured.ResultsNSEs significantly improved the NDI, SES, and EQ-5D compared with WL (P<.01). There was significant improvement (P<.0001) over time in all outcomes for NSEs, and apart from the PDI, significant worsening (P=.002-.0002) over time for the untreated group.ConclusionsNSEs were more beneficial than no intervention while on a WL for individuals with chronic WAD.Copyright © 2016 American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

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