Does Integrating Pain Neuroscience Education With Physiotherapy Enhance Outcomes in Chronic Plantar Fasciitis...

Chronic Plantar Fasciitis (CPF) is commonly associated with elevated levels of anxiety and pain catastrophizing. Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) has shown promise in addressing these psychological components, but high-quality evidence assessing its combined impact with physiotherapy for CPF is limited.

This study evaluates the potential benefits of incorporating Pain Neuroscience Education alongside Physiotherapy for managing Chronic Plantar Fasciitis.

A randomized controlled trial will recruit 160 participants between the ages of 18 and 44, all diagnosed with Chronic Plantar Fasciitis (CPF). Participants will be randomly and equally divided into two groups: a conventional physiotherapy group undergoing 45-min sessions of standard physiotherapy, and an experimental group receiving the same physiotherapy regimen supplemented with a weekly 15-min Pain Neuroscience Education (PNE) session. The outcome measures will include the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS) for assessing morning first-step pain, the Foot Function Index (FFI) for evaluating foot and ankle function, the Pain Catastrophizing Scale (PCS) for measuring catastrophic thinking, the Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia (TSK) for fear of movement, and the Y-Balance Test for dynamic balance assessment. Data will be collected at baseline, after 3 weeks, and at 6 weeks.

Data normality will be checked using the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. Depending on the data distribution, between-group differences will be analyzed using either the independent t-test or Mann-Whitney U test, and within-group changes will be assessed using the paired t-test or Wilcoxon signed-rank test.

The findings of this trial are expected to shed light on the additional benefits of integrating Pain Neuroscience Education with conventional physiotherapy in the management of Chronic Plantar Fasciitis.

This study was registered with the CTRI registry. The trial number is CTRI/2024/03/064616.