Scholars@Duke
Corey B. Simon

Corey B. Simon

Associate Professor in Orthopaedic Surgery
Orthopaedic Surgery, Physical Therapy
corey.simon@duke.edu
PO Box 104002 DUMC, Durham, NC 27710
311 Trent Drive, Box 104002, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Publications

Preliminary Characterization of Age and Chronic Low Back Pain Effects on Multimodal Pain Sensitivity: A Comparison Study in Older Adults with and Without Chronic Low Back Pain.

Journal Article J Pain · August 2024 Though pain sensitivity impairments contribute to chronic pain in younger adults, it is unclear if pain hypersensitivity manifests with aging and is heightened in the geriatric chronic low back pain population. The cross-sectional study preliminarily addre ... Full text Link to item Cite

Through the Lens of Movement-Evoked Pain: A Theoretical Framework of the "Pain-Movement Interface" to Guide Research and Clinical Care for Musculoskeletal Pain Conditions.

Journal Article J Pain · July 2024 Over 120 million Americans report experiencing pain in the past 3 months. Among these individuals, 50 million report chronic pain and 17 million report pain that limits daily life or work activities on most days (ie, high-impact chronic pain). Musculoskele ... Full text Link to item Cite

Examining Psychological Factors as Contributors to Pain, Disability, and Physical Function in Geriatric Chronic Low Back Pain: A Prospective Analysis of the Delaware Spine Studies Cohort.

Journal Article J Pain · June 2024 In younger populations, risk factors from psychologically-focused theoretical models have become accepted as primary drivers behind the persistence of low back pain (LBP), but these risk factors have not been thoroughly assessed in older adult populations ... Full text Link to item Cite

If You Build It, Will They Come? Patient and Provider Use of a Novel Hybrid Telehealth Care Pathway for Low Back Pain.

Journal Article Physical therapy · February 2024 ObjectiveThe purpose of this study was to describe the referrals and use of a hybrid care model for low back pain that includes on-site care by physical therapists, physical activity training, and psychologically informed practice (PiP) delivered ... Full text Cite

Hip-focused physical therapy versus spine-focused physical therapy for older adults with chronic low back pain at risk for mobility decline (MASH): a multicentre, single-masked, randomised controlled trial.

Journal Article Lancet Rheumatol · January 2024 BACKGROUND: Previously, we identified a population of older adults with chronic low back pain, hip pain, and hip muscle weakness who had worse 12-month low back pain and functional outcomes than age-matched adults with only low back pain, indicating an inc ... Full text Link to item Cite

Partner engagement for planning and development of non-pharmacological care pathways in the AIM-Back trial.

Journal Article Clin Trials · October 2023 BACKGROUND/AIMS: Embedded pragmatic clinical trials are increasingly recommended for non-pharmacological pain care research due to their focus on examining intervention effectiveness within real-world settings. Engagement with patients, health care provide ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Associations Between Management Pathway and Opioid Prescriptions for Patients Entering the Emergency Department With Neck and Back Pain.

Journal Article Mayo Clin Proc Innov Qual Outcomes · October 2023 OBJECTIVE: To determine associations between post-emergency department (ED) management pathways and downstream opioid prescriptions in patients seeking care for incident neck and/or back pain. PATIENTS AND METHODS: We identified patients seeking first-time ... Full text Link to item Cite

Construct validity of movement-evoked pain operational definitions in older adults with chronic low back pain.

Journal Article Pain Med · August 1, 2023 OBJECTIVE: Movement-evoked pain (MeP) may predispose the geriatric chronic low back pain (LBP) population to health decline. As there are differing operational definitions for MeP, the question remains as to whether these different definitions have similar ... Full text Link to item Cite

Circulating Inflammatory Biomarkers Predict Pain Change Following Exercise-Induced Shoulder Injury: Findings From the Biopsychosocial Influence on Shoulder Pain Preclinical Trial.

Journal Article J Pain · August 2023 Shoulder pain is a highly prevalent musculoskeletal condition that frequently leads to suboptimal clinical outcomes. This study tested the extent to which circulating inflammatory biomarkers are associated with reports of shoulder pain and upper-extremity ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Psychologically Informed Practice Consultation Roadmap: A Clinical Implementation Strategy.

Journal Article Phys Ther · July 1, 2023 Psychologically informed practice (PiP) includes a special focus on psychosocial obstacles to recovery, but research trials have revealed significant difficulties in implementing PiP outside of research environments. Qualitative studies have identified pro ... Full text Link to item Cite

Psychologically Informed Practice: The Importance of Communication in Clinical Implementation.

Journal Article Phys Ther · July 1, 2023 There has been increasing interest in the secondary prevention of chronic pain and pain-associated disability over the past 3 decades. In 2011, psychologically informed practice (PiP) was suggested as a framework for managing persistent and recurrent pain, ... Full text Link to item Cite

Movement-Evoked Pain Versus Widespread Pain: A Longitudinal Comparison in Older Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain From the Delaware Spine Studies.

Journal Article J Pain · June 2023 It is currently unknown which pain-related factors contribute to long-term disability and poorer perceived health among older adults with chronic low back pain (LBP). This investigation sought to examine the unique influence of movement-evoked pain (MeP) a ... Full text Link to item Cite

A Novel Movement-Evoked Pain Provocation Test for Older Adults With Persistent Low Back Pain: Safety, Feasibility, and Associations With Self-reported Physical Function and Usual Gait Speed.

Journal Article Clin J Pain · April 1, 2023 OBJECTIVES: Low back pain (LBP) is highly prevalent and disabling for older adults. Movement-evoked pain is an emerging measure that may help to predict disability; but is not currently a part of geriatric LBP clinical care. This study tested the safety an ... Full text Link to item Cite

Classification of older adults who underwent lumbar-related surgery using pre-operative biopsychosocial predictors and relationships with surgical recovery: An observational study conducted in the United States.

Journal Article Health Soc Care Community · September 2022 Lumbar surgery is a commonly prescribed intervention for low back pain but poses higher risks and worse outcomes for older adults. Identifying clinical phenotypes based on biopsychosocial factors may help identify older adults who are at greatest risk for ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Manual Therapy and Strengthening for the Hip (MASH) Trial: Protocol for a Multisite Randomized Trial of a Subgroup of Older Adults With Chronic Back and Hip Pain.

Journal Article Phys Ther · January 1, 2022 OBJECTIVE: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a disabling and costly condition for older adults that is difficult to properly classify and treat. In a cohort study, a subgroup of older adults with CLBP who had elevated hip pain and hip muscle weakness was ide ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

A Standardized Assessment of Movement-evoked Pain Ratings Is Associated With Functional Outcomes in Older Adults With Chronic Low Back Pain.

Journal Article Clin J Pain · December 24, 2021 OBJECTIVE: Despite high prevalence estimates, chronic low back pain (CLBP) remains poorly understood among older adults. Movement-evoked pain (MeP) is an understudied factor in this population that may importantly contribute to disability. This study inves ... Full text Link to item Cite

Static and Dynamic Pain Sensitivity in Adults With Persistent Low Back Pain: Comparison to Healthy Controls and Associations With Movement-evoked Pain Versus Traditional Clinical Pain Measures.

Journal Article Clin J Pain · July 1, 2021 OBJECTIVES: Despite its impact, individual factors associated with persistent low back pain (LBP) remain poorly understood. This study investigated static and dynamic pain sensitivity in adults with persistent LBP versus pain-free controls; and investigate ... Full text Link to item Cite

Improving Veteran Access to Integrated Management of Back Pain (AIM-Back): Protocol for an Embedded Pragmatic Cluster-Randomized Trial.

Journal Article Pain Med · December 12, 2020 BACKGROUND: Coordinated efforts between the National Institutes of Health, the Department of Defense, and the Department of Veterans Affairs have built the capacity for large-scale clinical research investigating the effectiveness of nonpharmacologic pain ... Full text Open Access Link to item Cite

Stakeholder Engagement in Pragmatic Clinical Trials: Emphasizing Relationships to Improve Pain Management Delivery and Outcomes.

Journal Article Pain Med · December 12, 2020 BACKGROUND: The NIH-DOD-VA Pain Management Collaboratory (PMC) supports 11 pragmatic clinical trials (PCTs) on nonpharmacological approaches to management of pain and co-occurring conditions in U.S. military and veteran health organizations. The Stakeholde ... Full text Link to item Cite

Pain-Reducing Effects of Physical Therapist-Delivered Interventions: A Systematic Review of Randomized Trials Among Older Adults With Dementia.

Journal Article J Geriatr Phys Ther · 2020 BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Pain is common among older adults with dementia. There are nonpharmacological options for managing pain in this population. However, the effects of physical therapist-delivered interventions have not been summarized. The purpose of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Biopsychosocial Influences on Shoulder Pain: Analyzing the Temporal Ordering of Postoperative Recovery.

Journal Article J Pain · 2020 Shoulder surgery is a primary intervention for shoulder pain, yet many individuals experience persistent postoperative pain. Previously, we found individuals categorized as having a high-risk phenotype (comprised of COMT variation and pain catastrophizing) ... Full text Link to item Cite

FEAR AND DYNAMIC INFLAMMATORY RESPONSE TO MOVEMENT AMONG OLDER ADULTS WITH LOW BACK PAIN: A FEASIBILITY ANALYSIS

Journal Article Innovation in Aging · November 8, 2019 AbstractLow back pain (LBP) is a prevalent cause of disability, with higher prevalence among older adults. However, the level of LBP disability cannot be explained by either pain intensity or LBP pathology ( ... Full text Cite

Effects of Non-Invasive Brain Stimulation on Clinical Pain Intensity and Experimental Pain Sensitivity Among Individuals with Central Post-Stroke Pain: A Systematic Review.

Journal Article J Pain Res · 2019 PURPOSE: Central post-stroke pain (CPSP) is a neuropathic disorder resulting in pain and disability. An emerging treatment for CPSP is non-invasive brain stimulation including direct current stimulation [tDCS] and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulati ... Full text Link to item Cite

The Efficacy of Manual Therapy for Treatment of Dyspareunia in Females: A Systematic Review.

Journal Article J Womens Health Phys Therap · 2019 BACKGROUND: Pelvic floor physical therapy is a noninvasive option for relieving pain associated with dyspareunia, genital pain associated with sexual intercourse. Manual therapy is a clinical approach used by physical therapists to mobilize soft tissues, r ... Full text Link to item Cite

McKenzie mechanical syndromes coincide with biopsychosocial influences, including central sensitization: a descriptive study of individuals with chronic neck pain.

Journal Article J Man Manip Ther · July 2018 BACKGROUND: Mechanical diagnosis and therapy (MDT) aims to assess and classify patients into theoretically mutually exclusive subgroups, in order to direct treatment. However, the latest evidence for biopsychosocial influence-central sensitization (CS) and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Response

Journal Article Journal of Orthopaedic and Sports Physical Therapy · May 1, 2018 Cite

REGARDING "UNRAVELING THE MECHANISMS OF MANUAL THERAPY" RESPONSE

Journal Article JOURNAL OF ORTHOPAEDIC & SPORTS PHYSICAL THERAPY · May 1, 2018 Link to item Cite

Paradigm Shift in Geriatric Low Back Pain Management: Integrating Influences, Experiences, and Consequences.

Journal Article Phys Ther · May 1, 2018 Geriatric low back pain (LBP) can have a profound impact on physical activity and can cause a decline in physical function, which is a major health risk for older adults. Within the last decade, physical therapist management of LBP has shifted from an emph ... Full text Link to item Cite

Unraveling the Mechanisms of Manual Therapy: Modeling an Approach.

Journal Article J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · January 2018 Synopsis Manual therapy interventions are popular among individual health care providers and their patients; however, systematic reviews do not strongly support their effectiveness. Small treatment effect sizes of manual therapy interventions may result fr ... Full text Link to item Cite

A novel tool for evaluating non-cognitive traits of doctor of physical therapy learners in the United States.

Journal Article J Educ Eval Health Prof · 2018 PURPOSE: The primary aim of this study was to develop a survey addressing an individual's non-cognitive traits, such as emotional intelligence, interpersonal skills, social intelligence, psychological flexibility, and grit. Such a tool would provide benefi ... Full text Link to item Cite

Methodological Considerations for the Temporal Summation of Second Pain.

Journal Article J Pain · December 2017 UNLABELLED: Temporal summation of second pain (TSSP) is a psychophysical indication of a central pain encoding mechanism, potentially enhanced in pathological pain conditions. Low-frequency repetitive stimulation of unmyelinated (C) nociceptors results in ... Full text Link to item Cite

Age Differences in the Time Course and Magnitude of Changes in Circulating Neuropeptides After Pain Evocation in Humans.

Journal Article J Pain · September 2017 UNLABELLED: This study tested the hypothesis that older adults would have a stronger response for substance P (facilitatory) but weaker response to β-endorphin (inhibitory), in magnitude as well as time course. Eight younger and 9 older adults underwent 3 ... Full text Link to item Cite

Testing Assumptions in Human Pain Models: Psychophysical Differences Between First and Second Pain.

Journal Article J Pain · March 2017 UNLABELLED: Acute pain arises from activation of myelinated (A delta) and unmyelinated (C) nociceptive afferents, leading to first (A-fiber) or second (C-fiber) pain sensations. The current study sought to investigate first and second pain within glabrous ... Full text Link to item Cite

Optimism Moderates the Influence of Pain Catastrophizing on Shoulder Pain Outcome: A Longitudinal Analysis.

Journal Article J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · January 2017 Study Design Secondary analysis of prospectively collected data. Background An abundance of evidence has highlighted the influence of pain catastrophizing and fear avoidance on clinical outcomes. Less is known about the interaction of positive psychologica ... Full text Link to item Cite

Association between physical activity and pain processing in adults with chronic low back pain compared to pain-free controls.

Journal Article J Back Musculoskelet Rehabil · 2017 BACKGROUND: Pain sensitivity has been negatively associated with physical activity levels. Few studies have examined associations between experimentally induced pain sensitivity and physical activity in adults with chronic low back pain and pain-free contr ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparative Associations of Working Memory and Pain Catastrophizing With Chronic Low Back Pain Intensity.

Journal Article Phys Ther · July 2016 BACKGROUND: Because of its high global burden, determining biopsychosocial influences of chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a research priority. Psychological factors such as pain catastrophizing are well established. However, cognitive factors such as workin ... Full text Link to item Cite

Predicting Pain and Disability After Shoulder Arthroscopy: Rotator Cuff Tear Severity and Concomitant Arthroscopic Procedures.

Journal Article Clin J Pain · May 2016 OBJECTIVES: Study the influence of concomitant arthroscopic procedures and rotator cuff tear (RCT) severity on daily pain intensity and disability after shoulder arthroscopy. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A sample of 145 patients (mean age, 42.66±17.6; number of ... Full text Link to item Cite

Older Age as a Prognostic Factor of Attenuated Pain Recovery After Shoulder Arthroscopy.

Journal Article PM R · April 2016 BACKGROUND: Shoulder pain and surgery are common among older adults. However, the extent to which older age affects recovery after shoulder surgery is not well understood. OBJECTIVE: To assess influence of older age on postoperative recovery factors 3 and ... Full text Link to item Cite

Preoperative physical therapy treatment did not influence postoperative pain and disability outcomes in patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopy: a prospective study.

Journal Article J Pain Res · 2016 BACKGROUND: There is limited literature investigating preoperative physical therapy (pre-op PT) treatment on pain intensity and disability after musculoskeletal surgery. The purposes of the present cohort study were to describe patient characteristics for ... Full text Link to item Cite

Age Group Comparisons of TENS Response Among Individuals With Chronic Axial Low Back Pain.

Journal Article J Pain · December 2015 UNLABELLED: Chronic low back pain (CLBP) is a highly prevalent and disabling musculoskeletal pain condition among older adults. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) is commonly used to treat CLBP, however response to TENS in older adults comp ... Full text Link to item Cite

The renin-angiotensin system and prevention of age-related functional decline: where are we now?

Journal Article Age (Dordr) · February 2015 Declining physical function is a major health problem for older adults as it is associated with multiple comorbidities and mortality. Exercise has been shown to improve physical function, though response to exercise is variable. Conversely, drugs targeting ... Full text Link to item Cite

Content and bibliometric analyses of the Journal of Manual & Manipulative Therapy.

Journal Article J Man Manip Ther · November 2014 BACKGROUND: Article characteristics and trends have been elucidated for other physical therapy-focused journals using content and bibliometric analysis. These findings are important for assessing the current state of a journal and for guiding future public ... Full text Link to item Cite

Experimental pain responses support peripheral and central sensitization in patients with unilateral shoulder pain.

Journal Article Clin J Pain · February 2014 OBJECTIVE: The aims of this study were to (1) examine the pattern of experimental pain responses in the affected and nonaffected extremities in patients with shoulder pain and (2) explore the intraindividual association between sensitization states derived ... Full text Link to item Cite

Suprathreshold heat pain response predicts activity-related pain, but not rest-related pain, in an exercise-induced injury model.

Journal Article PLoS One · 2014 Exercise-induced injury models are advantageous for studying pain since the onset of pain is controlled and both pre-injury and post-injury factors can be utilized as explanatory variables or predictors. In these studies, rest-related pain is often conside ... Full text Link to item Cite

Assessing the influence of treating therapist and patient prognostic factors on recovery from axial pain.

Journal Article J Man Manip Ther · November 2013 BACKGROUND: Limited research exists regarding the influence of a treating physical therapist on patient recovery (deemed therapist effects). Recent randomized clinical trials data provide an indication of small therapist effects for manual therapy; however ... Full text Link to item Cite

Basis for spinal manipulative therapy: a physical therapist perspective.

Journal Article J Electromyogr Kinesiol · October 2012 Physical therapists internationally provide spinal manipulative therapy (SMT) to patients with musculoskeletal pain complaints. SMT has been a part of physical therapist practice since the profession's beginning. Early physical therapist clinical decision ... Full text Link to item Cite

Content and bibliometric analysis of articles published in the Journal of Orthopaedic & Sports Physical Therapy.

Journal Article J Orthop Sports Phys Ther · December 2011 STUDY DESIGN: Descriptive bibliometric analysis. BACKGROUND: Content and bibliometric studies are useful for describing the publication patterns of a given profession, such as physical therapy, within the medical and allied health fields. However, few stud ... Full text Link to item Cite

Comparison of work-related fear-avoidance beliefs across different anatomical locations with musculoskeletal pain.

Journal Article J Pain Res · 2011 BACKGROUND: The influence of work-related fear-avoidance on pain and function has been consistently reported for patients with musculoskeletal low back pain. Emerging evidence suggests similar influences exist for other anatomical locations of musculoskele ... Full text Link to item Cite