Effect of Core Stabilization Exercises on Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy

August 23, 2026 updated by: Omar Gamal Abdelbasset, Cairo University

Effect of Lumbar Core Stabilization Exercises on Craniovertebral Angle and Functional Outcome in Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy

The goal of this clinical trial is to evaluate the effect of core stabilization exercise on functional outcome and craniovertebral angle which is the angle of forward head , in adults with cervical radiculopathy. The main questions it aims to answer are:

  • Is there a significant effect of core stabilization exercises (CSEs) on craniovertebral angle (CVA) in patients with cervical radiculopathy?
  • Is there a significant effect of core stabilization exercises (CSEs) on functional outcome in patients with cervical radiculopathy? Researchers will compare effect of adding core stabilization exercises to conventional physical therapy program (TENS, hot pack, US, manual therapy and strengthening exercises) Vs conventional physical therapy program alone to see if there is a beneficial effect of adding core stabilization exercises to physical therapy program Participants in study group will perform core stabilization exercises in addition to conventional PT program while participants in control group will receive conventional PT program

Study Overview

Status

Status

Indicates the current recruitment status or the expanded access status.
Recruiting

Conditions

Conditions

The disease, disorder, syndrome, illness, or injury that is being studied. On ClinicalTrials.gov, conditions may also include other health-related issues, such as lifespan, quality of life, and health risks.

Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.

Study Type

Study Type

Describes the nature of a clinical study. Study types include interventional studies (also called clinical trials), observational studies (including patient registries), and expanded access.
Interventional

Enrollment (Estimated)

Enrollment

The number of participants in a clinical study. The "anticipated" enrollment is the target number of participants that the researchers need for the study.
40

Phase

Phase

The stage of a clinical trial studying a drug or biological product, based on definitions developed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The phase is based on the study's objective, the number of participants, and other characteristics. There are five phases: Early Phase 1 (formerly listed as Phase 0), Phase 1, Phase 2, Phase 3, and Phase 4. Not Applicable is used to describe trials without FDA-defined phases, including trials of devices or behavioral interventions.
  • 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 Contact

Study Contact

The name and contact information for the person who can answer enrollment questions for a clinical study. Each location where the study is being conducted may also have a specific contact, who may be better able to answer those questions.

Study Locations

  • Egypt
      • Giza, Egypt
        • Recruiting
        • Faculty of physical therapy cairo university
        • Contact:

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

Eligibility Criteria

The key requirements that people who want to participate in a clinical study must meet or the characteristics they must have. Eligibility criteria consist of both inclusion criteria (which are required for a person to participate in the study) and exclusion criteria (which prevent a person from participating). Types of eligibility criteria include whether a study accepts healthy volunteers, has age or age group requirements, or is limited by sex.

Ages Eligible for Study

  • Adult

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Patients with Posterolateral cervical disc proplapse at level of C5-C6 and C6-C7 levels
  2. Neck Disability Index (NDI) score exceeding 20%.
  3. Neck pain of mild to moderate intensity (VAS ≥ 3).
  4. Their symptoms lasting for a duration exceeding six weeks
  5. Three out of four elements are positive in the following tests: spurling test, distraction test, upper limb tension test, shoulder abduction test.
  6. Body mass index should not exceed 30 kg/m².
  7. Patients complaining from neck pain and unilateral radicular pain, parathesia, motor manifestations or hyporeflexia
  8. Their age will range from 35 to 50 years.
  9. Their craniovertebral angle is less than 49 degrees.
  10. Their mean of cervical joint position error is larger than 4.5 degrees.

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Cervical mylopathy or spinal tumors
  2. History of cervical spine surgeries
  3. Cervical fractures
  4. Vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI)
  5. Bone Infection

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: None (Open Label)

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm

Participant Group / Arm

A group or subgroup of participants in a clinical trial that receives a specific intervention/treatment, or no intervention, according to the trial's protocol.
Intervention / Treatment

Intervention / Treatment

A process or action that is the focus of a clinical study. Interventions include drugs, medical devices, procedures, vaccines, and other products that are either investigational or already available. Interventions can also include noninvasive approaches, such as education or modifying diet and exercise.
Active Comparator: control group
Other: conventional physical therapy program
conventional physical therapy program will include TENS, hot pack, US, manual therapy and strengthening exercises
Experimental: study group
Other: conventional physical therapy program
conventional physical therapy program will include TENS, hot pack, US, manual therapy and strengthening exercises
Other: Core stabilization exercises
participants in study group will receive 30 mins and 3 sessions per week for 4 weeks

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Primary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, the planned outcome measure that is the most important for evaluating the effect of an intervention/treatment. Most clinical studies have one primary outcome measure, but some have more than one.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Arabic Version of Neck Disability Index (NDI)
Time Frame: from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Functional outcome will be assessed though Arabic Version of Neck Disability Index (NDI) which is a 10-item self-reported questionnaire. It measures the influence of neck pain on functioning and disability. The patient will be informed that this questionnaire had been designed to give us how your pain had affected your ability to function in daily life. Personal care, lifting, reading, work, driving, sleeping, recreational activities, pain intensity, concentration, and headache are examples of these questions. Each question is assessed on a six-point scale ranging from 0 (no disability) to 5 (major disability). The score will be calculated by adding the scores of each item together. The overall score is out of 50. The results can be expressed as a percentage by multiplying the score by two. The higher NDI score, the greater patient's perceived disability due to neck pain. The Arabic version of NDI is a strong valid method for assessing self-rated disability in patients with neck pain
from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Craniovertebral angle
Time Frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Craniovertebral angle ( CVA ) will be measured through lateral photography of patients. Before capturing the picture, Plastic markers will be placed on C7 vertebra and on tragus of ear. Then the picture will be uploaded to kinovea software to measure CVA by measuring the angle between a line connecting two plastic markers and the horizontal. Values more than 49 degrees are considered abnormal indicating forward head posture while values lower than 49 degrees indicate normal head position
From enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Secondary Outcome Measures

In a clinical study's protocol, a planned outcome measure that is not as important as the primary outcome measure for evaluating the effect of an intervention but is still of interest. Most clinical studies have more than one secondary outcome measure.
Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Neck Pain
Time Frame: from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Neck pain will be assessed though Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) which is used to measure the severity of neck pain. It is a straight line with one end representing no pain and the other end representing the worst imaginable pain. The subject will mark a point on the line that corresponds to the current level of pain he or she experiences. Higher values indicate higher levels of pain while lower values indicate lower levels of pain
from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Cervical Proprioception
Time Frame: from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks
Cervical proprioception will be assessed through measurement of cervical Joint Position Error (JPE). Instruments that will be utilized are laser pointer device mounted on participant's head and a chart with a reference point at its center. the chart is positioned 90cm in front of patients. A test of repositioning to a neutral head position (NHP) will be carried out to determine JPE. Participants will move their head away from the start position at the center of the chart which is the NHP to full range and then attempt to reposition the head back to the starting point as accurately as possible while they are blindfolded. The difference between the starting position (zero) and the returning point in the plane of movement will be measured in centimeters and then converted to degrees using this formula angle = tan-1 [error distance/90 cm]. Normal cervical JPE is 4.5 degree. Higher values indicate poor cervical proprioception
from enrollment to the end of treatment at 4 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Sponsor

The organization or person who initiates the study and who has authority and control over the study.
Cairo 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)

Study Start

The actual date on which the first participant was enrolled in a clinical study. The "anticipated" study start date is the date that the researchers think will be the study start date.
February 1, 2026

Primary Completion (Estimated)

Primary Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention to collect final data for the primary outcome measure. Whether the clinical study ended according to the protocol or was terminated does not affect this date. For clinical studies with more than one primary outcome measure with different completion dates, this term refers to the date on which data collection is completed for all the primary outcome measures. The "anticipated" primary completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the primary completion date for the study.
September 3, 2026

Study Completion (Estimated)

Study Completion

The date on which the last participant in a clinical study was examined or received an intervention/treatment to collect final data for the primary outcome measures, secondary outcome measures, and adverse events (that is, the last participant's last visit). The "anticipated" study completion date is the date that the researchers think will be the study completion date.
September 3, 2026

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

First Submitted

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submitted a study record to ClinicalTrials.gov. There is typically a delay of a few days between the first submitted date and the record's availability on ClinicalTrials.gov (the first posted date).
January 13, 2026

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The date on which the study sponsor or investigator first submits a study record that is consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. The sponsor or investigator may need to revise and submit a study record one or more times before NLM's QC review criteria are met. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
January 23, 2026

First Posted (Actual)

First Posted

The date on which the study record was first available on ClinicalTrials.gov after National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review has concluded. There is typically a delay of a few days between the date the study sponsor or investigator submitted the study record and the first posted date.
January 26, 2026

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

Last Update Posted

The most recent date on which changes to a study record were made available on ClinicalTrials.gov. There may be a delay between when the changes were submitted to ClinicalTrials.gov by the study's sponsor or investigator (the last update submitted date) and the last update posted date.
August 25, 2026

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator submitted changes to a study record that are consistent with National Library of Medicine (NLM) quality control (QC) review criteria. It is the responsibility of the sponsor or investigator to ensure that the study record is consistent with the NLM QC review criteria.
August 23, 2026

Last Verified

Last Verified

The most recent date on which the study sponsor or investigator confirmed the information about a clinical study on ClinicalTrials.gov as accurate and current. If a study with a recruitment status of recruiting; not yet recruiting; or active, not recruiting has not been confirmed within the past 2 years, the study's recruitment status is shown as unknown.
August 1, 2026

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

Other Study ID Numbers

Identifiers or ID numbers other than the NCT number that are assigned to a clinical study by the study's sponsor, funders, or others. These numbers may include unique identifiers from other trial registries and National Institutes of Health grant numbers.
  • P.T.REC/012/006086

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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