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Effect of therapeutic exercise routine on pain, disability, posture, and health status in dentists with chronic neck pain: a randomized controlled trial

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Abstract

Purpose

To investigate the effect of therapeutic exercise (TE) on pain, disability, posture, and health status in female dentists suffering from chronic neck pain (NP).

Methods

48 female dentists (40–45 years) suffering from NP were randomly divided into two experimental (n = 24) and control (n = 24) groups. Experimental group received 8 weeks of TE aimed to improve (1) muscle coordination and proprioception, (2) muscular endurance, and (3) muscle strength. Control group received no specific exercises. The pain, disability, posture (forward head and protracted shoulder angles), and health status were assessed at baseline and after an 8-week TE by visual analogue scale (VAS), neck disability index (NDI), photogrammetry, and self-rated general health questionnaire, respectively. Wilcoxon and Mann–Whitney non-parametric tests were used for statistical analysis.

Results

There were significant between-group differences in neck pain [p = 0.003, 0.86 (0.09–1.65)], disability [p = 0.009, ES (95% CI) = 0.78 (0.020–1.37)], forward head angle [p = 0.039, ES (95% CI) = 0.61 (0.034–1.19)], protracted shoulder angle [p = 0.031, ES (95% CI) = 0.64 (0.062–1.22)], and health status [p = 0.022, ES (95% CI) = 0.68 (0.102–1.26)] favoring the corrective exercise group. There were significant within-group changes in pain, disability, posture, and health status in the experimental group. However, there were no within group changes in the control group.

Conclusions

TEs successfully alleviated pain, disability, posture, and health status in female dentists suffering from chronic NP. Considering the extremely large effect size of TEs, this intervention was recommended to neck pain treatment in patients suffering from chronic NP, poor posture, and health problem.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are not publicly available due to legal restrictions, but applications for data access can be submitted in the context of calls for proposals.

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Acknowledgements

The scientists are dedicated to all the patients participated in our research projects. We are also thankful to all clinicians for their kind cooperation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Sport Injury and Corrective Exercises, Faculty of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran

    Amir Letafatkar, Gelareh Alamooti, Niloufar Farivar & Mina Afshari

  2. Department of Physical Education and Sports Sciences, Karaj Branch, Islamic Azad University, Karaj, Iran

    Pouya Rabiei

  3. Department of Physiotherapy, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy

    Lucia Bertozzi

Authors
  1. Amir Letafatkar
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  2. Pouya Rabiei
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  3. Gelareh Alamooti
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  4. Lucia Bertozzi
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  5. Niloufar Farivar
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  6. Mina Afshari
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Amir Letafatkar.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Ethical considerations

Stud was approved by the Institutional Review Board of the Kharazmi University.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study. The analyses were carried out in accordance with the relevant guidelines and regulations.

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Letafatkar, A., Rabiei, P., Alamooti, G. et al. Effect of therapeutic exercise routine on pain, disability, posture, and health status in dentists with chronic neck pain: a randomized controlled trial. Int Arch Occup Environ Health 93, 281–290 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00420-019-01480-x

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