Investigation of the Effectiveness of Manual Therapy Plus Cervical Stabilization Exercise in Chronic Neck Pain

December 14, 2021 updated by: Seyda TOPRAK CELENAY, Ataturk Training and Research Hospital

Investigation of the Effectiveness of Manual Therapy Plus Cervical Stabilization Exercise on Balance, Proprioception, and Neck Muscle Morphology in Chronic Neck Pain

This study aims to investigate the effectiveness of manual therapy plus cervical stabilization exercise compared to manual therapy alone on balance, proprioception, and neck muscle morphology in chronic neck pain.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Neck pain is defined as pain and/or stiffness localized to the dorsal area of the area between the condyle of the occiput and the third thoracic vertebra. Chronic neck pain (CNP), defined as persistent pain lasting three or more mounts, causes disability and a reduction in life quality. Balance disorders or postural instability, a deficit in proprioception, changes in muscle recruitment, a decrease in dimension of deep cervical muscle, and an increase in stiffness of superficial neck muscle may lead to pain in patients with CNP. Both manual therapy and exercise have favorable effects on management with CNP. According to our knowledge, no study has investigated the effects of manual therapy plus cervical stabilization exercise on balance, proprioception, and neck muscle morphology in CNP, yet.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

20

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

      • Ankara, Turkey, 06760
        • Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 55 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • 20 to 55 years of age,
  • Having generalized neck pain for more than 3 months,
  • Being volunteer

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Being pregnant,
  • Malignancy,
  • Having cervical stenosis,
  • Severe cervical spondylosis,
  • Cervical fractures and tumor,
  • Osteoporosis,
  • Positive vertebrobasilar test
  • Positive Babinski reflex
  • Neurologic deficit related to compression of the spinal root or cord,
  • Having neurologic, dermatologic, infectious, inflammatory rheumatologic and endocrine diseases,
  • Being an inability to fulfill the questionnaires,
  • Any problems that will hinder exercise (advanced cardiopulmonary or orthopedic problems), having intervention including exercise program or physiotherapy in the three months

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Treatment
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
  • Masking: Single

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Manual therapy plus cervical stabilization exercise group
The patients diagnosed with chronic neck pain (CNP) with 18-55 years of age followed by routine controls and who were volunteered will be included in the study.
Cyriax's mobilization techniques will be applied as manual therapy. Before the mobilization, soft tissue mobilization techniques will be applied to relieve muscular spasm and preventing the patient' s anxiety. Bringing, manual traction, manual traction with rotation, manual traction with anterior-posterior gliding and lateral gliding mobilization techniques will be applied. Appropriate mobility techniques will be selected according to the complaints and symptoms of the patients. Cervical mobilization applications will take an average of 15-20 minutes.
The CSE program aims to maintain a neutral spine position and activate deep cervical muscles during exercises. It is performed in stages with gradual progression according to the stages of motor learning and sensory-motor integration, namely, static, dynamic, and functional. The program will start with postural training and then the cervical bracing technique with the activation of deep neck flexors for CSE was performed. The patients will be asked to maintain a neutral spine during the exercises and throughout the day as much as possible. The difficulty and variety of exercises will be increased weekly. It will be carried out 2 days a week for 6 weeks (12 sessions) by the supervisor physiotherapist.
Active Comparator: Only manual therapy group
The patients diagnosed with CNP with 18-55 years of age followed by routine controls and who were volunteered will be included in the study.
Cyriax's mobilization techniques will be applied as manual therapy. Before the mobilization, soft tissue mobilization techniques will be applied to relieve muscular spasm and preventing the patient' s anxiety. Bringing, manual traction, manual traction with rotation, manual traction with anterior-posterior gliding and lateral gliding mobilization techniques will be applied. Appropriate mobility techniques will be selected according to the complaints and symptoms of the patients. Cervical mobilization applications will take an average of 15-20 minutes.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Balance
Time Frame: change from baseline at 6 weeks
The balance will be evaluated with Biodex BioSwayTM Balance Evaluation System. It reliably measures the patient's ability to balance on soft and/or hard ground.
change from baseline at 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Proprioception
Time Frame: change from baseline at 6 weeks
Proprioception will be assessed with dual digital inclinometer. The feet of the inclinometers will be placed as simultaneously as possible over the head of the patients and the cervical seventh vertebra. Firstly, patients will be asked to move their heads forward as possible as from the neutral position and then they will try to find neutral position from reached position. The angle on digital display of inclinometer will be recorded as degree. Each test will be repeated 3 times and the average deviation error score will be recorded.
change from baseline at 6 weeks
Muscle morphology
Time Frame: change from baseline at 6 weeks
The thickness and stiffness of the neck muscles will be evaluated by a specialist radiologist with real-time ultrasonography. It is a reliable, valid and, non-invasive method that provides an assessment of muscle morphology. Measurements will be made by using the Logiq S7 / Expert ultrasound device. The cross-sectional area of deep neck muscle with sonography, the stiffness of the superficial muscles with elastography were assessed.
change from baseline at 6 weeks
Pain intensity
Time Frame: change from baseline at 6 weeks
The pain intensity will be assessed with the Visual Analog Scale, which consists of a horizontal line of 10 cm in length. For pain level assessment, "0" defines "no pain" and "10" defines "unbearable pain''. The participants will be asked to mark the intensity of their pain level.
change from baseline at 6 weeks
Disability level
Time Frame: change from baseline at 6 weeks
The disability level will be measured with the Turkish version of Neck Disability Index (NDI). It consists of 10 sections which include the severity of pain, personal care, lifting, reading, headache, concentration, work-life, driving, sleeping and leisure activities. There are 6 responses for each section, scored 0 (no pain and no functional limitation) and 5 (worst pain and maximum limitation). The total score ranges from 0 to 50. Patients will be asked to select the most appropriate option for each section.
change from baseline at 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: seyda toprak celenay, PhD, PT, Ankara Yildirim Beyazıt University

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start (Actual)

May 20, 2020

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2021

Study Completion (Actual)

June 24, 2021

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

May 29, 2020

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 4, 2020

First Posted (Actual)

June 9, 2020

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

January 4, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 14, 2021

Last Verified

December 1, 2021

More Information

Terms related to this study

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 2020/05/28

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

NO

Drug and device information, study documents

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product

No

Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product

No

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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