Although a considerable number of studies focusing
on the effects of exercise for neck and shoulder
pain in office workers have been conducted, there is
conflicting evidence of the benefits of exercise. For
instance, a Cochrane review in 20074 and 201311
reported the efficacy of conservative interventions
for treating work-related complaints of the arm,
neck, or shoulder in adults. They found that exercise
did not improve pain in comparison with no treatment
standardised mean difference (SMD –0.52,
95% confidence interval (CI); –1.08, 0.03), and the
results were similar for recovery, disability, and sick
leave. However, these evidences were from very
low-quality studies.