Investigation of the Effectivenes of Digital Based Exercises in Patients With Neck Pain

Neck pain is one of the most common musculoskeletal diseases after low back pain in the community. The incidence of neck pain was reported as %37,2. Neck pain can be caused by trauma, poor posture, degenerative diseases, tumors, muscle stress, wiplash injuries, cervical myelopathy, cervical ligamentous instability, fracture, vascular insufficiency or systemic diseases. Neck pain is classified as acute (less than six weeks), subacute (six to twelve weeks) or chronic (lasting more than twelve weeks). While neck pain is treated in physiotherapy clinics, it is also supported by home exercises during and after treatment.

It is emphasized that home exercise programs for neck pain are effective, but exercise adherence is an important factor. Nowadays, with the rapid development of mobile healthcare applications, digital based exercise applications have started to be used in physiotherapy and rehabilitation. Although it has been shown to be useful in studies examining the effectiveness of mHealth applications for different musculoskeletal problems, these studies are quite limited. Several studies have identified the beneficial effects of digital-based exercises, but no clear evidence of superiority over written or oral home exercise programs. In 2019, a mobile exercise application (Neck Exercise) for neck pain patients was developed as a thesis study at Marmara University Health Sciences Institute. The availability of this mobile application is shown on healthy people. However, its efficacy has not been studied in patients with chronic neck pain. This mobile app includes for the neck spinal stabilization , posture, breathing exercises and exercises for scapula circumference. Each exercise is explained with video. In addition, this application gives reminder signals at user-defined time intervals. Participants with chronic neck pain aged between 18-65 years will be included in the study and randomly divided into two groups. One group will be given home exercises via brochure to the other group via mobile application. Participants will be asked to do home exercises 3 days a week for 6 weeks. Pain, disability and exercise adherence of the participants will be evaluated. The Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire, VAS, neck disability index and exercise adherence scale will be used in the evaluation. Our thesis will be the first study examining the effect of a mobile application developed for neck pain on adherence to home exercises. As a result of study, the researchers aim to save paper by prescribing home exercise programs via mobile application and to promote a platform where users can better understand the exercises.