The Effect of Smartphone Use Duration in Patients With Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain.

February 3, 2019 updated by: Aliaa Rehan Youssef

Effects of Smartphone Usage Duration on Neck Dysfunction in Young Versus Middle Aged Patients With Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to investigate the effects of smartphone usage duration on neck pain and sense of position as well as Deep Cervical Flexor (DCF) fatigue in young and middle aged patients with chronic mechanical neck pain.

BACKGROUND: Neck pain is one of most common causes of musculoskeletal disorders with a prevalence up to 86.8 %. It may interfere with the ability to perform normal activities of daily living (ADL). Patients with neck pain may present with reduced Rang of Motion (ROM) and diminished cervical position sense.

There are many risk factors that have been associated with neck pain including physiological factors such as age or pathomechanical factors such as increased physical demand on the spine. Smartphone use has been proposed as a risk factor for the development of neck pain in young adults due to sustaining a prolonged static posture or repeating particular neck movements for long period. The adverse effects of smartphone increases as the duration of the use increases. Aging is associated with increased cervical reposition error and reduced DCF muscle endurance, yet it is not clear how older adults will respond to prolonged use of smartphone.

HYPOTHESES: Increased duration of smartphone use will

  1. increase neck pain in middle aged compared to young adult patients with chronic mechanical.
  2. decrease cervical position sense in middle aged compared to young adult patients with chronic mechanical neck pain.
  3. increase DCF fatigue in middle aged compared to young adult patients with chronic mechanical neck pain.

RESEARCH QUESTION: Would increased duration of smartphone usage accentuate neck pain, cervical reposition error and DCF fatigue in middle aged compared to young adults with chronic mechanical neck pain?

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Patients with chronic mechanical neck pain will be instructed to use a standard smartphone for web browsing, either for 10 or 30 minutes, while seated on a standard chair at two separate sessions. Task duration will be tested by a random order generated by the Excel software.

The outcome measures for this study will be neck pain, DCF fatigue and neck reposition error. All measures will be assessed prior to and immediately after performing the required task in each session by a single trained assessor.

Neck pain will be assessed using the visual analogue scale (VAS), proprioception acuity will be quantified by measuring the repositioning error angle using Cervical Range of Motion instrument (CROM) and DCF endurance will be quantified using the neck stabilizer pressure biofeedback device.

Study Type

Observational

Enrollment (Actual)

80

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

  • Egypt
      • Cairo, Egypt
        • The outpatient clinic of the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University
      • Cairo, Egypt
        • The outpatient Clinic, kasr Al-Aini Hospital

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 60 years (ADULT)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

Female

Sampling Method

Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Patients will a confirmed diagnosis of chronic mechanical neck pain for over 3 months.

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  1. Adult female patients with an age ranging from 18 to 60 years old.
  2. Referred with a diagnosis of chronic mechanical neck pain for more than 3 months.
  3. Patients should have at least a one year experience in using touch-screen smartphone.
  4. Have a neck impairment of more than 8% on the neck disability index (NDI).

Exclusion Criteria:

  1. Any history of upper extremity injury or surgery within the past year
  2. Visual problems, dizziness and vertigo
  3. Any deformity in the upper extremities or spine
  4. Previous history of spinal surgery.
  5. Neurological or systemic disorders that interfere with balance and sensation
  6. Low back pain or deformity.
  7. Patients with any red flags such as malignancy, infection, inflammation, myelopathy.
  8. If patient having any physical difficulties interfering with the use of smartphone while sitting and standing.

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

Cohorts and Interventions

Group / Cohort
Intervention / Treatment
Young-age group
Patient between the age of 18 and 30 years old, with a confirmed diagnosis of chronic mechanical neck pain
Device: Smartphone
A standard smartphone will be used for browsing the internet for two different durations (10 and 30 minutes)
Other Names:
  • Smart phone
  • Cell phone
  • Mobile Phone
Middle-age group
Patients between 30 and 60 years old, with a confirmed diagnosis of chronic mechanical neck pain.
Device: Smartphone
A standard smartphone will be used for browsing the internet for two different durations (10 and 30 minutes)
Other Names:
  • Smart phone
  • Cell phone
  • Mobile Phone

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Current neck pain severity
Time Frame: 1 week

Pain will be measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) which is a valid and reliable pain measurement tool.

Each participant will be asked to put a mark on a 10-cm horizontal line that is marked with 'zero' at one end to indicate no pain and marked with'10' at the other end to indicate maximum pain.This ill be done at two separate session, before and immediately after using the smartphone for the specified period.
1 week

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
DCF endurance
Time Frame: 1 week
The endurance of DCF muscles will be assessed using the Neck stabilizer pressure biofeedback. This ill be done at two separate session, before and immediately after using the smartphone for the specified period.
1 week
Neck proprioception
Time Frame: 1 week
repositioning error for neck flexion, extension and rotation will be measured using the CROM. Error will be calculated as absolute angle of error. This ill be done at two separate session, before and immediately after using the smartphone for the specified period.
1 week

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

Aliaa Rehan Youssef

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

General Publications

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)

November 20, 2018

Primary Completion (ACTUAL)

January 31, 2019

Study Completion (ACTUAL)

January 31, 2019

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

November 15, 2018

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

November 15, 2018

First Posted (ACTUAL)

November 19, 2018

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (ACTUAL)

February 5, 2019

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 3, 2019

Last Verified

February 1, 2019

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • Asmaa

Plan for Individual participant data (IPD)

Plan to Share Individual Participant Data (IPD)?

UNDECIDED

IPD Plan Description

Journal publications and conferences

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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