Effects of Dynamic Neck Sensorimotor Biofeedback Training in Individuals With Mechanical Neck Pain: A Pilot Randomized Controlled Trial.

The short pilot found that the supervised feedback program was feasible and was followed by improvements in some neck-position accuracy and fear-avoidance measures. A larger trial is needed before judging treatment benefit.

Hsu M, Lee YC, Yang CC, Lin PC, Liaw LJ, Chien CY, Lee PY, Guo LY.
Physiotherapy research international : the journal for researchers and clinicians in physical therapy · Publication date: 2026-08-18
Added to site: 2026-10-08
DOI: 10.1002/pri.70322

First published online August 18, 2026; the October issue date is later. Added October 8, 2026 as a historical addition after full-text review.

Modalities

Biofeedback, Sensorimotor training

Clinical focus

Mechanical neck pain, Proprioception and fear avoidance

Population

Outpatients with mechanical neck pain

Sample

20 participants randomized 1:1; all completed the intervention and post-intervention assessment

Intervention / method

Four supervised sessions over two weeks using helmet-mounted smartphone motion sensing with real-time visual and auditory feedback, graded cue reduction and task-specific cervical movements

Comparator

Repeated cervical movements without biofeedback

Clinician summary

All 20 participants completed follow-up, training adherence was 100% and no adverse events were reported. Within the biofeedback arm, flexion and extension repositioning errors fell by 51.95% and 46.67%, with additional within-group changes in selected directions and fear-avoidance scores; the pilot was not powered for definitive between-group testing.

How to interpret the findings

Only 10 participants were assigned to each arm, there was no formal power calculation, outcome assessment was unblinded, four sessions were delivered over two weeks and there was no follow-up. Several baseline measures showed moderate imbalance, many comparisons were exploratory, and the reported significant values were primarily within-group changes rather than confirmatory between-group effects. Pain and disability changes were not statistically significant within the biofeedback arm.

Equipment and disclosures

Helmet-mounted smartphone with motion-sensing application, external monitor and real-time visual and auditory feedback; no commercial product attribution is made.

Supported by Taiwan research and university grants listed in the retained records. The authors declared no conflicts of interest.

Related evidence

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