Aligning prescribed and received exercise dose in chronic musculoskeletal pain
Abstract Chronic musculoskeletal pain is commonly managed with exercise training, yet real-world outcomes remain inconsistent. We contend that this variability reflects a misalignment between the exercise dose prescribed in clinical trials and dose accumulated during rehabilitation. Here, we propose that dose alignment is essential for interpreting treatment effects and understanding the gap between efficacy and real-world effectiveness, and outline a framework clarifying how prescribed exercise guides therapeutic exposure in routine rehabilitation.
Authors
- Lars Donath (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6039-0141)
- Daniel L. Belavý (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9307-832X)
- Ishant Kumar Arora
- Christopher Neason (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7937-7737)
- Patrick J. Owen (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3924-9375)
- Clint T. Miller (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7743-6986)
- N. K. Arora (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8841-2549)
Institutions
- German Sport University Cologne (DE)
- Deakin University (AU)
- La Trobe University (AU)
- Eastern Health (AU)
- Bochum University of Applied Sciences (DE)
- LWL-Universitätsklinikum Bochum (DE)
- Monash University (AU)
- Jamia Millia Islamia (IN)
Publication Details
- Journal
- npj Exercise Medicine and Health
- Published
- 2026-09-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s44437-026-00012-3
- Primary Topic
- Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00