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

Not Applicable
Completed
Conditions
Neck Pain
Interventions
Behavioral: DCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback in addition to conventional exercises
Behavioral: conventional exercises
Registration Number
NCT03537300
Lead Sponsor
King Saud University
Brief Summary

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.

Detailed 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.

Recruitment & Eligibility

Status
COMPLETED
Sex
All
Target Recruitment
65
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.

Study & Design

Study Type
INTERVENTIONAL
Study Design
PARALLEL
Arm && Interventions
GroupInterventionDescription
experimental groupDCF muscles training using pressure biofeedback in addition to conventional exercises-
control groupconventional exercises-
Primary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
Change in Pain at day 42, day 14 after intervention from baselineat day 0 (before treatment), day 14 and day 42 after treatment

Numeric pain rating scale (NPRS): NPRS. Subjects had to rate their pain on the 0-10 rating scale, where 0 means no pain while 10 is the worst possible pain.

Change in muscle endurance at day 42, day 14 after intervention from baselineat day 0 (before treatment), day 14 and day 42 after treatment

Craniocervical flexion test (CCF) test using pressure biofeedback instrument

Secondary Outcome Measures
NameTimeMethod
disabilityat day 0 (before treatment), day 14 and day 42 after treatment

Functional disability was assessed using Neck disability index (NDI) questionnaire. Subjects had to answer the multiple choice questions and their score was interpreted on range from 0 to 50, 0 being no disability and 50 indicating complete disability.

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