Chiropractic and Exercise for Seniors with Neck Pain   Sponsor     Health Services Research Administration (HRSA)   Principal Investigator     Gert Bronfort, DC, PhD, Northwestern Health Sciences University   Berman Center Co-investigators     Richard Grimm, MD, PhD   Description     This study identifies effective therapies for patients 65 years and older who suffer with chronic neck pain to ameliorate the pain and to enhance their functional capacity. The study compares chiropractic treatment and home exercise, supervised rehabilitative exercise and home exercise, and home exercise alone, for reduction of patient-reported neck pain.   Role of the Berman Center     Berman Center investigators serve on the study’s Steering Committee and provide advice on recruitment and data management strategies.   Basic enrollment information     Participants must be 65 years or older, have a primary complaint of neck pain lasting more than 12 weeks, and have not had any of the study treatments within the previous 3 months.   Abstract     Neck pain (NP) is a considerable health problem, affecting both young and elderly individuals. Of particular concern is the negative impact NP may have on the functional ability of the geriatric population, already challenged by decreased mobility and balance associated with aging. Chiropractic manual treatment and rehabilitative exercise have demonstrated potential for the treatment of NP in younger individuals, but have yet to be rigorously tested in the elderly.     The broad, long-term objective of this research is to identify effective therapies for patients, 65 years and older, who suffer with chronic neck pain and to enhance their functional capacity. The study will compare the clinical effectiveness of: • chiropractic manual treatment and home exercise, • supervised rehabilitative exercise and home exercise, and • home exercise alone     These will be compared in both the short-term (after 12 weeks) and long-term (after 52 weeks), using patient-rated neck pain as the main outcome measure. Secondary outcomes include participant-reported neck related disability, general health status, patient satisfaction, improvement, and medication use; objective functional performance measures of neck motion, strength and endurance, and functional ability; participant-reported direct and indirect costs and cost utility of treatment.