Riassunto dello studio

Fifty school teachers suffering from chronic neck pain (NP) were randomized to receive conventional exercises alone (n=25) or conventional exercises combined with deep cervical flexor (DCF) muscle training using pressure biofeedback (n=25). Outcomes of interest included the following: pain evaluated on the numeric pain rating (NPR) scale, endurance of DCF muscles using the craniocervical flexion (CCF) test, and functional disability which was evaluated using the neck disability index (NDI) questionnaire. All outcomes were measured at days zero, 14, and 42 post-treatment. Results revealed that pain and muscle endurance were both statistically significantly in favour of the DCP muscle training group vs. the conventional exercise group at both timepoints (p<0.05 for both). In addition, disability scores were statistically significantly improved in the DCP muscle training group at follow-up of 42-days when compared to the conventional exercises group (p=0.01); yet, this was not observed at day 14 follow-up (p=0.05).