Pain Neuroscience Education in Physiotherapy Students: Effects on Knowledge and Attitudes

Ayşe ŞİMŞEK

Status: Completed

Conditions: Pain Management; Physiotherapist Students; Pain Knowledge

Treatments: Behavioral: Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT07273461

KBU-2025-2154

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study aims to examine the immediate effects of a single-session Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) program on pain-related knowledge and attitudes among undergraduate physiotherapy students. The PNE session focuses on explaining pain neurophysiology, chronic pain mechanisms, central sensitization, and the biopsychosocial factors that influence pain. Participants complete validated questionnaires assessing pain knowledge, pain-related beliefs, and attitudes before and immediately after the intervention. The purpose of the study is to determine whether a brief educational session can produce immediate improvements in pain knowledge and pain-related attitudes across different academic years in physiotherapy students.

Full description

This study is a retrospective registration of a completed pre-post interventional study conducted among undergraduate physiotherapy students. The objective of the research was to evaluate the immediate effects of a single-session Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) program on pain-related knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes.

The PNE session lasted approximately 70 minutes and was delivered by a physiotherapist trained in pain neuroscience and the biopsychosocial model. The session covered pain neurophysiology, the distinction between acute and chronic pain, central sensitization, factors contributing to pain experiences, and the role of cognition, emotions, and behaviors within the biopsychosocial framework.

Participants completed self-report outcome measures at two time points:

Baseline (pre-intervention)

Immediately after the intervention

Outcome measures included validated instruments assessing pain knowledge and pain-related beliefs:

Revised Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (rNPQ)

Pain Knowledge and Attitudes Questionnaire (KNAP)

Health Care Providers' Pain and Impairment Relationship Scale (HC-PAIRS)

Pain Attitudes and Beliefs Scale for Physiotherapists (PABS-PT)

The study followed a single-group design with no control group and no randomization.

The study was conducted between April and October 2025 at Karabük University, Turkey. Ethical approval was obtained from the Karabük University Non-Interventional Clinical Research Ethics Committee (Decision No: 2025/2154), and written informed consent was obtained from all participants prior to data collection.

The results of this research aim to contribute to the understanding of how a brief PNE session may provide immediate improvements in pain-related knowledge and attitudes among physiotherapy students. The findings may support the integration of structured pain education approaches into physiotherapy curricula and early clinical training programs.

Enrollment: 155 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Undergraduate physiotherapy and rehabilitation students (1st, 2nd, 3rd, or 4th year)
• Willing to participate and able to provide written informed consent

Exclusion criteria

• Having previously received formal Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Other

Allocation: N/A

Interventional model: Single Group Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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155 participants in 1 patient group

Pain Neuroscience Education Group

Experimental group

Description:

Experimental: Pain Neuroscience Education Group Arm Description: Single-group intervention arm receiving a 70-minute Pain Neuroscience Education session. Outcome measures were collected at baseline and immediately after the intervention.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE)