Effectiveness of pulse electromagnetic field therapy in patients with non-specific chronic neck pain: A randomized controlled study

Objective: The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of adding pulse electromagnetic field therapy (PEMT) or sham PEMT to neck stabilization exercises (NSE) in patients with chronic nonspecific neck pain, compared to NSE alone, on cervical joint range of motion, pain, disability, pressure-pain threshold and quality of life. Materials and Methods: The study included 75 patients aged between 20 and 55 years who were diagnosed with chronic nonspecific neck pain. Patients were randomly assigned to three groups: PEMT, sham PEMT, and NSE only. In the PEMT group, patients received a total of 15 sessions of PEMT over 3 weeks, with sessions conducted 5 days a week. Each session consisted of 25 minutes of PEMT (25 Hz frequency, 35% intensity, 30 Gauss) applied to the neck, followed by 60 minutes of NSE. In the sham PEMT group, patients received a total of 15 sessions of sham PEMT over 3 weeks, with sessions conducted 5 days a week. Each session consisted of 25 minutes of sham PEMT (the device was inactive) followed by 60 minutes of NSE. The NSE group received 15 sessions of NSE over 3 weeks, with each 60-minute session conducted 5 days a week. Demographic data of the patients were recorded. Evaluation parameters included symptom duration, cervical joint range of motion (ROM), Visual Analog Scale (VAS) scores for pain at rest, during movement, and at night, Neck Disability Index (NDI), patient and physician global assessments, pressure-pain threshold measurement using an algometer, and quality of life assessment using the Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire. Evaluations were performed at baseline (T0), post-treatment/week 3 (T1), and at the 6th week (T2). SPSS 25.0 package program was used in statistical analysis and p value <0.05 was considered significant. Results: In our study, we found improvement in most parameters in all three groups, compared to the baseline, in the evaluations made after treatment and at the 6th week. At the T1 assessment, the PEMT group showed a significant advantage over the sham PEMT group, but only in terms of VAS-motion levels. In the intergroup analysis, the PEMT group showed greater improvements in NDI levels compared to the NSE group at the T1 evaluation. At the 6-week follow-up, the PEMT group exhibited significantly greater improvements in NDI levels compared to the sham and NSE groups. Conclusion: The addition of PEMT to NSE has positive effects on pain, disability, and quality of life in patients with chronic non-specific neck pain. PEMT is superior to exercise in reducing resting, motion, and night pain, while it is superior to placebo in reducing pain during motion. Moreover, PEMT was found to be more effective than exercise in the short term and more effective than both exercise and placebo in the long term in improving disability. Keywords: Neck pain, Exercise, Chronic nonspecific neck pain, Pulsed magnetic field therapy