The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of various types of exercise for prevention and cure of nonspecific neck pain in office workers.
Methods
Publications between 1980 and April 2010 were systematically searched in various databases (PubMed, CINAHL Plus with full text, The Cochrane Library, Science Direct, PEDro, ProQuest, PsycNet, and Scopus). The following key words were used: neck pain, cervical pain, exercise, strengthening, stretching, endurance, office workers, visual display unit, visual display terminal, and computer users. A hand search of relevant journals was also carried out. Relevant randomized controlled trials were retrieved and assessed for methodological quality by 2 independent reviewers. The strength of the evidence was based on methodological quality and consistency of the results.
Results
Nine randomized controlled trials were included in this review, of which 6 were rated as high-quality studies. No exercise type was identified as being effective in the prevention of nonspecific neck pain in office workers. Strong evidence was found for the effectiveness of muscle strengthening and endurance exercises in treating neck pain. Moderate evidence supported the use of muscle endurance exercise in reducing disability attributed to neck pain.
Conclusion
Literature investigating the efficacy of exercise in office workers with nonspecific neck pain was heterogeneous. Within the limitations, for treatment of neck pain, either muscle strengthening or endurance exercise is recommended, whereas for reduction of pain-related disability, muscle endurance exercise is suggested. Further research is needed before any firm conclusions regarding the most effective exercise programs for office workers can be reached.
Section snippets
Search Strategy
Publications between 1980 and April 2010 were retrieved by a computerized search of the following databases: PubMed, CINAHL Plus with full text, The Cochrane Library, Science Direct, PEDro, ProQuest, PsycNet, and Scopus. The following key words were used: neck pain, cervical pain, exercise, strengthening, stretching, endurance, office workers, visual display unit, visual display terminal, and computer users. After the inclusion of the articles based on the selection criteria, references were
Search Strategy
A total of 14 articles on 9 trials were judged to meet the selection criteria. However, 5 articles were identified as double publications. The article with the highest methodological quality in each case of double publication was included.24 Thus, 9 publications were assessed for methodological quality and data extraction (Fig 1).
Quality Assessment
All articles had already had their methodological quality previously assessed using the PEDro scale (Table 1). Six studies were rated as high-quality studies with the
Discussion
Exercise interventions reported in this review included muscle strengthening, muscle endurance, stretching, and nonspecific exercises. Obviously, there are other types of exercise, such as proprioceptive reeducation, coordination, and stabilization exercises, which may be beneficial for nonspecific neck pain patients and are not included in this review.16
Conclusion
Nine RCTs investigating the effectiveness of exercise therapy for prevention and cure of nonspecific neck pain in office workers were reviewed and analyzed. The findings revealed strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of muscle strengthening and endurance exercises for treating neck pain. Moderate evidence indicated that muscle endurance exercise was effective for reducing disability attributed to neck pain. More high-quality studies in this area are needed. The design of future studies
Funding Sources and Potential Conflicts of Interest
No conflicts of interest were reported for this study. This work was funded by Chulalongkorn University Centenary Academic Development Project.
Practical Applications
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Strong evidence supporting the effectiveness of muscle strengthening and endurance exercises for treating non-specific neck pain in office workers.
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Moderate evidence supported the use of muscle endurance exercise for reducing disability attributed to neck pain in office workers.
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More high quality studies in this area are needed.
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2024, International Journal of Osteopathic Medicine
Neck pain is a highly prevalent condition that leads to considerable pain and disability. There is an economic cost to neck pain at both a personal and broader health system level. Neck pain may be classified as ‘non-specific’ neck pain (NSNP) when there is an absence of identifiable underlying disease or abnormal anatomical structure. Osteopaths play a role in the management of NSNP, but it is unclear how osteopaths specifically manage this condition. This study explores what osteopaths do for patients with NSNP.
Cross sectional design. Via an online survey.
All participants in this study reported applying soft tissue techniques, using exercise prescription, discussing physical activity levels, physical fitness, stress management, pain education and posture and ergonomics for patients with NSNP. Less than half of the osteopaths in this study reported using PROMs in clinical practice for the management of non-specific neck pain and only a small number completed continuing professional development (CPD) related to the clinical management of NSNP.
This study demonstrates Australian osteopaths use a range of manual therapy techniques and education strategies in clinical practice for the management of NSNP in line with clinical practice guidelines.
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All osteopaths in this study reported applying soft tissue techniques, using exercise prescription, discussing physical activity levels, physical fitness, stress management, pain education and posture and ergonomics for patients with NSNP.
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Less than half of the osteopaths in this study reported using PROMs in clinical practice for the management of non-specific neck pain.
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Only a small number of Australian osteopaths completed continuing professional development (CPD) related to the clinical management of NSNP.
Cervical pain has a high incidence and worldwide socio-economic effect. Its incidence is lower in men than in women. Conservative and non-pharmacological therapeutic options include strength training. Elastic bands are commonly used in physiotherapy clinics for strength work in patients. Consequently, the objective of this research was to analyse the efficacy of an exercise therapy programme using elastic bands on decreasing pain and increasing strength of the neck flexor musculature, cervical extensor, and scapular stabilizing musculature in women suffering from non-specific cervical pain.
A randomised clinical trial was carried out with 35 subjects with non-specific neck pain (age = 51.7 ± 9.5 and baseline intensity of pain in Visual Analogue Scale = 52.4 ± 9.6). The experimental group (n = 18) performed the exercise programme with elastic bands, consisting of a total of 16 sessions that lasted 45 min. The control group, consisting of 27 participants, reported that they maintained their usual lifestyle throughout the study. The evaluation tools used in this research included the Visual Analogue Scale, Neck Flexor Endurance Test, Neck Extensor Muscle Endurance Test, and Scapular Muscle Endurance Test.
The experimental group obtained significant improvements in the measurements taken using the Visual Analogue Scale (p < 0.001, d = 4.2), the Neck Flexor Endurance Test (p < 0.001, d = 3.4), the Neck Extensor Endurance Test (p < 0.001, d = 6.3), in the Scapular Muscle Endurance Test (p = 0.016, d = 0.9).
The assessed exercise therapy program utilizing elastic bands demonstrated favorable outcomes in managing non-specific neck discomfort. This intervention resulted in pain reduction and enhanced endurance of the cervical flexor and extensor muscles, along with improved endurance of the scapular stabilizing muscles.
Protocol registration in ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT05433649 (registered prospectively, date of registration: June 27, 2022).
Impaired cervical kinematics particularly the movement velocity had been consistently found in people with neck pain. The recovery and potential of cervical movement velocity in assisting the prediction of recovery in individuals with chronic neck pain remained unknown. This study investigated the application of cervical movement velocity to predict the outcomes of pain intensity and functional disability for a cohort of participants with chronic mechanical pain after completion of a 12-week intervention program.
Cervical movement velocity when performing neck motions in the anatomical planes, pain intensity and functional disability score were assessed before and after the physiotherapy program. Correlations between kinematic and clinical outcomes, and validity of applying the peak velocity values of the cervical spine measured at baseline for prediction of recovery of pain and function after the physiotherapy program were examined (n = 68).
Significant improvements were found in the peak values of cervical velocity in all movement planes, pain intensity and functional disability score at post-program reassessment (p < 0.001). Significant negative correlations between peak values of cervical movement velocity and pain intensity (for specific directions, r = −0.163 to −0.191), and functional disability were found (for all directions, r = −0.158 to −0.282). Area under the Receiver Operating Characteristics curve was >0.6 for cervical extension, flexion and right rotation velocity for predicting functional recovery post-program.
These findings suggest that cervical velocity of selected planes measured at baseline may inform the prediction of recovery of functional disability but not pain intensity in people with chronic mechanical neck pain.
This pain has a mechanical basis and affects about sixty-seven percent of individuals at some stage in life, especially in middle aged (Ghodrati et al., 2017). Efficient and cost effective treatment are needed for the management of non-specific chronic neck pain (NSCNP) in order to decrease the social dens of disability; however, the use of interventions with demonstrated efficacy for specific outcomes is necessary (Sihawong et al., 2011). Stabilization exercise is an intervention designed for the protection and prevention of the spinal segment from re-injury by restoring and improving muscle control to make up for any loss of muscle action caused by injury or degenerative changes (Akodu et al., 2014).
Neck pain poses a huge medical challenge in terms of pain and disability on patient. Therapeutic exercise has been reported to be an effective intervention for the treatment of patients with chronic neck pain.
This study therefore determined the effects of neck stabilization and Pilates exercises on pain, sleep disturbance, neck disability and kinesiophobia in patients with non-specific chronic neck pain.
Forty five patients with non-specific chronic neck pain (NSCNP) participated in this study. They were randomly assigned into 3 different groups; Neck stabilization exercise, Pilates exercise and Neck dynamic isometric exercise using computer generated number. Pain intensity, sleep disturbance, neck disability, kinesiophobia were assessed using numerical pain rating scale, insomnia severity index, neck disability index, tampas scale of kinesiophobia respectively at baseline, 4th week (mid-intervention) and 8th week (post intervention). Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics at alpha level of less than or equal to 0.05.
Findings from this study revealed an improvement in all outcome parameters (pain intensity, quality of sleep, neck disability and kinesiophobia) in the three groups post-intervention (p < 0.05). However, there was statistically significant difference between neck stabilization and Pilates exercises on pain intensity (p < 0.05).
The two groups (neck stabilization and Pilates) showed similar effect in the entire clinical outcomes aside pain intensity therefore both exercises are efficacious in the treatment of patients with NSCNP. However, neck stabilization exercises demonstrated a more superior effect than Pilates exercises in reducing pain intensity in patients with NSCNP.