Efficacy of Deep Cervical Flexor Muscles Training on Neck Pain, Functional Disability and Muscle Endurance in School Teachers

King Saud University

Status: Completed

Conditions: Neck Pain

Treatments: Behavioral: conventional exercises; Behavioral: DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback in addition to conventional exercises

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03537300

RRC-2016-009

Details and patient eligibility

About

Neck pain (NP) is a common work related disorder. Teaching is one profession in which its prevalence is high. The Daily job of a school teacher involves head down posture while reading, writing, etc., exposing them to risk of developing NP. Deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscles have been shown to have lower endurance in patients with cervical impairment which has been associated with disability. There is limited evidence that reports efficacy of DCF muscles training in occupational NP. This study was done to see the effect of DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback on pain, muscle endurance and functional disability in school teachers with NP.

Full description

Neck pain (NP) is a common work related disorder. Teaching is one profession in which its prevalence is high. The Daily job of a school teacher involves head down posture while reading, writing, etc., exposing them to risk of developing NP. Deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscles have been shown to have lower endurance in patients with cervical impairment which has been associated with disability. There is limited evidence that reports efficacy of DCF muscles training in occupational NP. This study was done to see the effect of DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback on pain, muscle endurance and functional disability in school teachers with NP. 65 teachers, aged between 25 to 45 years with experience of more than 5 years were agreed to participate in this study. Subjects were randomly divided into two groups, experimental (EG) and control group (CG). In EG, subjects received DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback in addition to conventional exercises for neck pain while in CG subjects received only conventional exercises. Pain, muscle endurance and disability measured at day 0 (before treatment), day 14 and day 42 after treatment. Endurance of DCF muscles was measured by CCF test using pressure biofeedback instrument, Pain intensity was measured using NPRS and Functional disability was assessed using NDI questionnaire.

Enrollment: 65 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 25 to 45 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• experience of more than 5 years
• neck pain score of more than 5 on numeric pain rating scale (NPRS), mild to moderate disability score on neck disability index (NDI) and poor cranio-cervical flexion (CCF) test

Exclusion criteria

• any neurological sign or symptom, history of spinal surgery or if they were taking any treatment for their pain.

Trial design

Primary purpose: Treatment

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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65 participants in 2 patient groups

experimental group

Experimental group

Treatment:

Behavioral: DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback in addition to conventional exercises

control group

Active Comparator group

Treatment:

Behavioral: conventional exercises