AI Training Program vs Standard Correction for Forward Head and Rounded Shoulder in Neck Pain (AI)

Artificial Intelligence Training Program Versus Standard Correction for Forward Head and Rounded Shoulder in Non-specific Neck Pain

this study will be to evaluate the effectiveness of AI-recommended exercise interventions versus standard corrective exercises in management of non-specific neck pain with forward head and rounded shoulder posture. with the goal of improving neck pain, functional disability, forward head, and rounded shoulder postures.

Study Overview

• Status: Active, not recruiting
• Conditions: Forward Head Posture; Rounded Shoulder Posture; Upper Cross Syndrome
• Intervention / Treatment: Other: AI based exercise; Other: standard corrective exercises

Detailed Description

The aim of the current study is to evaluate the efficacy of APECS-AI app suggested exercises and standard corrective exercises in managing non-specific neck pain with forward head and rounded shoulders posture. Forty-six subjects of both genders between (18 and 35 years old) have non-specific neck pain with forward head and rounded shoulder posture will be enrolled in this study. The subjects will be randomized into two equal groups (n = 23 each): An intervention group (Group A), will receive AI-generated personalized exercise regimens from the APECS-AI app, and a control group (Group B), will perform standard corrective exercises

• Study Type: Interventional
• Enrollment (Estimated): 46
• Phase: Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

Study Locations

• Egypt
  • Cairo, Egypt
    • Faculty of physical therapy

Participation Criteria

Eligibility Criteria

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

Description

Inclusion Criteria: Subjects with non-specific neck pain who had localized neck pain felt it anywhere along the cervical spine, from the superior nuchal line to the first thoracic spinous process.

Neck pain between 3 and 8cm on a visual analogue scale. Subjects suffering from chronic (> 12 weeks) neck pain. Subjects with forward head posture with craniovertebral angle (CVA) angle less than 50 degrees.

Subjects with rounded shoulder posture as shoulder angle < 52. Subjects must not have received any pharmacological medication related to their musculoskeletal condition as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or muscle relaxant for at least three months prior to enrolment in the study.

Subjects must not have involved in any form of physical therapy or structured postural correction programs within the 6 months prior to study -

Exclusion Criteria:

1. Musculoskeletal diseases, cardiopulmonary diseases, and a history of surgery that could affect the experiment.
2. History of cervical spine injury or surgery.
3. Neck pain secondary to other conditions (e.g. Neoplasm, neurological diseases or vascular diseases).
4. Spondylosis and spondylolisthesis
5. A neurological disease, infection.
6. Inflammatory arthritis in the cervical spine.
7. Poor general health status that would interfere with the exercises -

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: AI based exercise; receive AI-generated personalized exercise regimens from the APECS-AI app	Other: AI based exercise; receive AI-generated personalized exercise regimens from the APECS-AI app
Active Comparator: standard corrective exercises	Other: standard corrective exercises; Each exercise session begins with 10 min of warm-up activity and ends with 5 min of cool-down. Selected exercises will be designed in two phases: first, and second phases. Exercises will be progressed in frequency and intensity during these phases

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure	Measure Description	Time Frame
The craniovertebral angle	forward head posture. will be measured by Kinovea software and the APECS AI app. More than 50 degrees is considered normal.	6 weeks
Shoulder angle	rounded shoulder posture will be measured by Kinovea software and the APECS AI app. more than 52 is considered normal	6 weeks
functional disability	is measured by neck disability index (NDI). A higher score reflects a greater level of neck disorder-related disability	6 weeks
pain level	It is measured by visual analogue scale (VAS). 10-cm line that represents a pain spectrum between "no pain" and "worst pain," as the word descriptions "no pain" on the left and "worst imaginable pain" on the right serve as anchors for the 100-mm-long horizontal line	6 weeks

Collaborators and Investigators

• Sponsor: Cairo University
• Investigators: Study Director: NESREEN FAWZY MAHMOUD, Lecturer of Physical Therapy for Musculoskeletal Disorders and Its Surgery Faculty of Physical Therapy Cairo University; Study Chair: PROF. Dr. ENAS FAWZY YOUSSF, Professor and Chairperson of Department of Physical Therapy for Musculoskeletal Disorders and Its Surgery Faculty of Physical Therapy Cairo University

Publications and helpful links

Helpful Links

• Related Info

Study record dates

Study Major Dates

• Study Start (Actual): November 30, 2025
• Primary Completion (Estimated): August 1, 2026
• Study Completion (Estimated): October 1, 2026

Study Registration Dates

• First Submitted: September 13, 2025
• First Submitted That Met QC Criteria: November 14, 2025
• First Posted (Estimated): November 19, 2025

Study Record Updates

• Last Update Posted (Estimated): December 9, 2025
• Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria: December 7, 2025
• Last Verified: December 1, 2025

More Information

Terms related to this study

• Keywords: forward head and rounded shoulder posture ,hyperkyphosis OR "thoracic kyphosis
• Additional Relevant MeSH Terms: Oculocerebral hypopigmentation syndrome type Preus
• Other Study ID Numbers: P.T.REC/012/005976

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