The Short-Term Effects of a Single Lecture on Undergraduate Physiotherapy Students' Understanding Regarding Pain Neurophysiology: A Prospective Case Series

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of one 80-minute lecture regarding pain neurophysiol-ogy, on the understanding of undergraduate physiotherapy students, in terms of the same topic. Methods: 78 third-year students from the Tokyo University of Technology participated in this study. An 80-minute one-off lecture regarding pain neurophysiology was delivered. Understanding of pain neurophysiology was assessed through a Japanese version of Neurophysiology of Pain Questionnaire (NPQ), immediately before, after, and one month after the lecture. Furthermore, students' subjective interest levels, difficulty levels and comprehension levels were also evaluated using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS). Results: NPQ scores improved significantly immediately after and one month after the intervention compared to the baseline (p < 0.01). Effect sizes in both comparisons were large (0.99 and 1.11 respectively). There was no significant difference between immediately after and one month after the intervention. There was no significant correlation between changes in NPQ and the three subjective outcomes in VAS. Conclusions: The findings of this study suggest that a single 80-minute lecture might be effective to improve undergraduate physiotherapy students' understanding about pain neurophysiology. Educational staff in Japanese physiotherapy schools is encouraged to integrate modern pain science into their lectures.