Effectiveness of Specific Strength Training Combined With Static Stretching of the Posterior Neck in Office Workers With Chronic Neck Pain: A Clinical Trial

Objective: To determine the effectiveness of strength training combined with stretching compared to specific strength training in office workers with chronic neck pain.

Methods: A single blind randomized clinical trial will be conducted. Participants will be adult of both sexes with sedentary office work and chronic neck pain.

The intervention will consist of a strength training program for the neck and shoulder muscles combined with static stretching of the neck, while the comparison group will only perform strength training. In addition, both groups will receive ergonomics guidelines.

Short-term, medium-term, and long-term evaluations will be performed using the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (NPQ), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK).

Study Overview

• Status: Not yet recruiting
• Conditions: Neck Pain; Work Injury
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: specific strength training with static neck stretching; Other: Specific Strength Training

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 40
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

• Study Contact: Name: María Santos; Phone Number: +34663417459; Email: maria.santosp@edu.uah.es

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

• Ages Eligible for Study: Adult; Older Adult
• Accepts Healthy Volunteers: No

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

• Adults aged between 18 and 70 years.
• Workers from companies in the Community of Madrid.
• Sedentary employees who work at least 20 hours in the office.
• Subjects with nonspecific chronic neck pain.
• All individuals who have decided to participate voluntarily after having read and signed the patient information sheet and the informed consent form.

Exclusion Criteria:

• Arterial hypertension (systolic BP >160, diastolic BP >100) or cardiovascular diseases.
• Diagnosed metabolic disorders.
• Symptomatic disc herniation or severe cervical spine disorders.
• Postoperative conditions.
• History of severe trauma to the neck and shoulder region.
• Pregnancy.
• Subjects with a body mass index (BMI) greater than 29.9 kilograms per square meter (kg/m2).
• Presence of physical or mental impairments that prevent the correct execution of the interventions and/or their corresponding evaluation.
• Having undergone surgery in the previous six months.
• Participating in parallel research studies.
• Not having a permanent job position.
• Using two monitors.
• Using a laptop.

Study Plan

How is the study designed?

Design Details

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

Number of Arms

2

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm	Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: strength training and static stretching; The intervention will consist of a strength training program for the neck and shoulder muscles combined with static stretching of the neck.	Other: specific strength training with static neck stretching; The intervention will consist of specific strength training composed of 5 exercises performed with dumbbells: front raises, lateral raises, reverse flies, shoulder shrugs, and wrist extensions. In addition to the following static stretches: stretching towards lateral flexion of the upper part of the trapezius muscle, the scalene muscles, and the sternocleidomastoid muscle on both sides; extension of the extensor muscles; flexion of the flexor muscles; and contralateral flexion and rotation combined with scapular depression of the scalene muscles and elevation of the scapula on both sides, holding each stretch for 10 seconds. This sequence of stretches will constitute one set, with 6 sets performed with a 30-second rest between sets, lasting 8 minutes. Therefore, the intervention will have a total duration of 28 minutes per session, conducting 3 sessions per week.
Active Comparator: strength training; The comparison group will only perform strength training.	Other: Specific Strength Training; The intervention will consist of specific strength training comprised of 5 exercises using dumbbells: front raises, lateral raises, reverse flies, shoulder shrugs, and wrist extensions. Four sets will be performed, with a 1-minute rest between sets. Each exercise will be executed for 30 seconds, followed by a 25-second rest between exercises. Three 20-minute sessions will be conducted per week.

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
Pain intensity	We will use the "Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire", which consists of 9 questions with 5 statements of increasing difficulty. The minimum and maximum values are from 0 to 50 points. Higher scores indicate greater severity of neck pain.	It will be measured 4 times: before the start of the intervention, short-term (4 weeks), medium-term (2 months), and long-term (1 year).
Kinesiophobia	We will use the "Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia," which consists of 11 questions with 4 numeric options, ranging from 1 (completely disagree) to 4 (completely agree). The minimum and maximum values range from 17 to 68 points; higher scores indicate higher levels of kinesiophobia.	It will be measured 4 times: before the start of the intervention, short-term (4 weeks), medium-term (2 months), and long-term (1 year).
Neck Disability	We will use the "Neck Disability Index," which consists of 10 questions with 6 statements of increasing difficulty. The values range from 0 to 50, where 0 indicates no disability and 50 indicates total disability.	It will be measured 4 times: before the start of the intervention, short-term (4 weeks), medium-term (2 months), and long-term (1 year).

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: University of Alcala
• Investigators: Principal Investigator: María Santos, University of Alcala

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Estimated): September 1, 2024
• Primary Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025
• Study Completion (Estimated): December 31, 2025

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: June 3, 2024
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2024
• First Posted (Actual): June 11, 2024

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Actual): June 11, 2024
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: June 7, 2024
• Last Verified: June 1, 2024

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: randomized controlled trial; exercise; Neck pain; Occupational Health
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Pain; Neurologic Manifestations; Neck Pain
• Other Study ID Numbers: MSP-2024

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