Muscle Energy Technique and Static Stretching on Pain Intensity and Functional Disability in Patients With Mechanical Neck Pain (MET&SSinNckp)

Effects Muscle Energy Technique and Static Stretching on Pain Intensity and Functional Disability in Patients With Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Control Study

Neck pain is becoming increasingly common throughout the world with a considerable impact on individuals, communities, health-care systems and businesses (Hoy et al, 2011).Neck pain is a common problem within our society affecting individual's physical and social functioning considerably and interfering with the patient's daily activities. There is lack of evidence to allow conclusions to be drawn about the effectiveness of MET when compared with stretching exercises for relieving mechanical neck pain. Therefore, this study is designed to examine the effect of MET, static stretching and to compare their effects on pain intensity and functional disability in patient with mechanical neck pain.

Study Overview

• Status: Completed
• Conditions: Neck Pain
• Intervention / Treatment: Device: Muscle Enery Techniques; Device: Static Stretching

Detailed Description

This experimental study purposively recruited 24 subjects (male: n=10, female: n = 14) with mechanical neck pain from the Outpatient Physiotherapy Department of the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospitals Complex, Ile-Ife. Subjects were randomly allocated into the MET and SS groups. Subjects in MET group received 6 treatment sessions of Muscle Energy Technique in addition to conventional physiotherapy treatments. Patients in SS group received 6 treatment sessions of Static Stretching in addition to conventional physiotherapy treatments. All subjects were treated twice a week for six weeks. Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) were used to assess the pain intensity and functional disability at baseline, 3rd week and 6th week of treatment sessions respectively. Descriptive and Inferential statistics were used to analyse the data. Alpha level was set at < 0.05.

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Actual): 24
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Nigeria
  • Osun
    • Ile Ife, Osun, Nigeria, 220005
      • Obafemi Awolowo University

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: 40 years to 65 years (Adult, Older Adult)
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Genders Eligible for Study: All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:i. Male and female patients with history of mechanical neck pain of more than 3 months

Exclusion Criteria:

• Patients with acute neck pain
• Subjects were excluded if they have neck pain associated with an underlying pathology such as fracture of the cervical spine, neck pain radiating into the arms or upper extremity or associated with headaches or facial pain, malignancy, infections, inflammatory disorders, osteoporosis or cases of disc prolapse.
• Patients with history of surgery of the cervical spine during the previous 12months

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

• Primary Purpose: Treatment
• Allocation: Randomized
• Interventional Model: Parallel Assignment
• Masking: None (Open Label)

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Muscle Energy Technique (MET); MET Group received 12 treatment sessions of MET (Nagrale et al, 2010) two times a week in addition to conventional physiotherapy. The procedures employ voluntary muscle contractions by the patient in a precisely controlled direction and intensity against a counterforce applied by the Physiotherapist. The technique requires the therapist to provide stabilization to the segment on which the distal aspect of the muscle attaches. A command for anisometric contraction of the muscle is given that causes accessory movement of the joint. Several specific muscle energy techniques are described for the subcranial region of the cervical spine.	Device: Muscle Enery Techniques; Group of patients that underwent muscle energy technique as a mean of treatment for the complaint; Other Names: MET
Experimental: Static stretching (SS); Subjects in SS Group received 12 treatment sessions of static stretching (Dutton et al, 2008) two times a week in addition to conventional physiotherapy. Stretching involves the application of manual or mechanical force to elongate structures that have adaptively shortened and are hypo-mobile (Sullivan, 2007) Static stretching involves stretching a muscle to a point of discomfort and holding the stretch for a length of time, followed by a return to normal resting muscle length (Andrews et al, 2004). Muscles of the neck were stretched in especially in side flexion, extension, flexion and side rotation for 10 seconds and was repeated 10 times for a session.	Device: Static Stretching; Set of patients that had static stretching technique for the treatment for the complaint; Other Names: SS

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Visual Analogue Scale	VAS is a one-dimensional measure of pain intensity, which has been widely used in diverse adult populations, including those with rheumatic diseases (Mc Cormack et al, 1988). pain intensity as none, mild, moderate, or severe, the following cut points on the pain VAS have been recommended: no pain (0-4 mm), mild pain(5-44 mm), moderate pain (45-74 mm), and severe pain (75-100 mm) (Aun et al, 1986)	From March 2019 to November 2019, The treatment for each patient was for 6 weeks

Secondary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Neck Disability Index (NDI)	The NDI can be scored as a raw score or doubled and expressed as a percent (Vernon, 1991). Each session is scored on a 0 to 5 rating scale, in which zero means 'No Pain' and 5 means 'Worst Imaginable Pain'. All the points can be summarized as a total score. The test can be interpreted as a raw score with a maximum score of 50 or as a percentage.	From March 2019 to November 2019, The treatment for each patient was for 6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Obafemi Awolowo University
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: Adesola O Ojoawo PhD, Head, Department of Medical Rehabilitation, Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife; Study Chair: Kayode Ijaduola, Provost, College of Health Sciences, Obafemi Awolowo University

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): May 23, 2019
• Primary Completion (Actual): December 24, 2019
• Study Completion (Actual): January 16, 2020

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: April 15, 2020
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 15, 2020
• First Posted (Actual): April 17, 2020

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): April 20, 2020
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: April 16, 2020
• Last Verified: April 1, 2020

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: visual analogue scale,; neck pain,; muscle energy techniques; neck disability index; Static stretching, ,
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Neurologic Manifestations; Neck Pain; Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: OJO/2020/01

Drug and device information, study documents

• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated drug product: No
• Studies a U.S. FDA-regulated device product: No