Effects of Home-Based Exercise Manual on Pain and Disability in Patients of Postural Neck Pain

May 7, 2022 updated by: University of Lahore

Effects of Routine Physical Therapy With and Without Home-Based Exercise Manual on Pain and Disability in Patients of Postural Neck Pain: A Randomized Clinical Trial

The main aim of this study is to determine the effects of routine physical therapy with and without home-based exercise manual on pain and disability in patients of postural neck pain. To exceptional time, the effects and outcomes of home-based exercise manual for the patients with postural neck pain have not yet been explored. Due to the current Covid-19 pandemic and social isolation, most of the individuals with office based occupations are performing their duties from their homes, which has some negative impact on their neck biomechanics and leads to the postural neck pain, this study will not only enlighten the beneficial effects of home-based exercise manual for the patients of postural neck pain, to reduce the risk of disability and improve their quality of life, but it will also be cost effective for them.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

After back pain, most commonly found musculoskeletal ailment is the neck pain. Due to the poor neck posture, postural neck pain appears. It is estimated that, about 60% of the neck pain patients' have the forward head posture. Many people visit hospitals or other medical centers at least once in their life due to this problem.

Those individuals with chronic neck pain who work in offices, industries or perform other computer-based tasks, that require sitting for longer period of time have altered postural behaviors. Persistent neck pain has the negative impact as it has the potential to change the biomechanics of cervical spine specifically in individuals who spend most of their time in sitting position in front of computer screens. Continuous postural neck pain may lead to the forward head posture that rises load on the posterior structures of the cervical spine such as ligaments, muscles, bones and joint capsules and brings changes in scapular kinetics and kinematics.

According to the previous researches, forward head posture causes tightening of the shoulder and anterior neck muscles, shortening of the posterior neck extensors, and affects the kinematics and position of the scapula. Proper posture of the body is believed to be the state in which there is a musculoskeletal balance and minimal amount of strain and stress on the body. However most of the people are not able to maintain that equilibrium in the musculoskeletal structures of the body.

An ideal posture is considered only when the external auditory meatus is lined up with the vertical postural line. As seen in in the lateral view, the vertical line passes through external auditory meatus, the shoulder joint, slightly behind the hip joint, through the center of the knee joint and slightly in front of the ankle joint. Postural neck pain is believed to be associated with the forward head posture and is one of the common types of poor head posture seen in patients with neck disorders.

Neck pain is the most commonly occurring clinical condition, and its associated social and economic costs related to disability and days off work are just about equal to the lumbar pain. Individuals with the postural neck pain have been reported with the change in muscular control such as increased activity of the superficial muscles of the cervical spine and upper trapezius. Although the exact association between posture and neck pain is unresolved. Cervical neck posture is believed to have impact on dorsal neck muscle activity during lifting or even at rest. Moreover, postural neck pain may lead to the forward head posture linked with the thoracic kyphosis which has indirect impact on the rotational range of motion and cervical flexion. Occupations with sustained computer use and prolong computer usage may lead to the functional kyphosis, that seems to affect posture of the neck and scapular positioning and activity of the upper trapezius. Modifications in the workplace environment and postural correction have been shown in reducing postural neck pain.

The main aim of the study is to compare the effects of routine physical therapy with and without home-based exercise manual on pain and disability in patients of postural neck pain.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

70

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

  • Pakistan
    • Punjab
      • Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan, 54770
        • Pakistan Society for Rehabilitation of the Disabled

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

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • All patients with postural neck pain aged 18-60 years shall be included.
  • Patients experiencing postural neck pain at least once a week.
  • A symptom duration of greater than 3 months.
  • Postural neck pain that is aggravated by the sustained postural loading, and relieved by postural modification.
  • Patients who are able to read and write.

Exclusion Criteria:

  • Neck pain due to specific causes i.e. disc protrusion, radicular syndrome
  • Any accidental injury of spine
  • Inflammatory rheumatic disease
  • Congenital deformity of the spine
  • Spinal canal stenosis
  • Neoplasm
  • Females who are pregnant
  • Patients who had spinal surgery within the previous 12 months or any other invasive treatment of the spine within the previous 4 weeks.

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
Active Comparator: Arms
Control group: in control group moist heating pads along with TENS shall be applied on neck for 10 minutes and then neck isometrics and strengthening exercises shall be performed.
Other: Conventional PT
In this group patients will receive routine physical therapy including hot pack for 10 minutes, stretching, strengthening exercise and TENS at the end of each session.
Experimental: Assigned Interventions
Experimental group: in the experimental group we will provide moist heating pads along with TENS on the neck for 10 minutes and then neck isometrics and strengthening exercises shall be performed. Patients in the experimental group will also receive a home-based exercise manual.
Other: Home-based Exercise Manual
in the experimental group we will provide moist heating pads along with TENS on the neck for 10 minutes and then neck isometrics and strengthening exercises shall be performed. Patients in the experimental group will also receive a home-based exercise manual.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS)
Time Frame: 2 weeks
Pain will be measured by Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), in which patients are asked to circle the number between 0 and 10. The numerical scale is most commonly 0 to 10, with 0 being "no pain" and 10 being "the worst pain imaginable." The patient picks (verbal version) or draws a circle around.
2 weeks
Neck Disability Index (NDI)
Time Frame: 2 weeks
The Neck Disability Index (NDI) is a self-report questionnaire which is used to determine how neck pain affects a patient's daily life and to assess the self-rated disability of patients with neck pain. This questionnaire is used to gather the details about the intensity of neck pain among patients that has affected the capability to manage in daily routine. Every single section of this questionnaire is scored on a 0 to 5 rating scale, in which 0 means "no pain" whereas 5 means "worst imaginable pain".
2 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

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

Sponsor

University of Lahore

Investigators

  • Principal Investigator: Muhammad Adil, MPHIL-MSK*, University of Lahore

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)

July 9, 2021

Primary Completion (Actual)

April 22, 2022

Study Completion (Actual)

May 2, 2022

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

February 19, 2022

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

February 19, 2022

First Posted (Actual)

March 2, 2022

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Actual)

May 10, 2022

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

May 7, 2022

Last Verified

May 1, 2022

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • ULahore Muhammad Adil

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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