Background and Purpose
Poor sitting posture has been implicated in the development and perpetuation of
neck pain symptoms. This study had 2 purposes: (1) to compare change in cervical
and thoracic posture during a distracting task between subjects with chronic neck
pain and control subjects and (2) to compare the effects of 2 different neck exercise
regimens on the ability of people with neck pain to maintain an upright cervical and
thoracic posture during this task.
Subjects
Fifty-eight subjects with chronic, nonsevere neck pain and 10 control subjects
participated in the study.
Method
Change in cervical and thoracic posture from an upright posture was measured every
2 minutes during a 10-minute computer task. Following baseline measurements, the
subjects with neck pain were randomized into one of two 6-week exercise intervention
groups: a group that received training of the craniocervical flexor muscles or a
group that received endurance-strength training of the cervical flexor muscles. The
primary outcomes following intervention were changes in the angle of cervical and
thoracic posture during the computer task.
Results
Subjects with neck pain demonstrated a change in cervical angle across the duration
of the task (mean4.4°; 95% confidence interval [CI]3.3–5.4), consistent with a
more forward head posture. No significant difference was observed for the change in
cervical angle across the duration of the task for the control group subjects
(mean2.2°; 95% CI1.0 –3.4). Following intervention, the craniocervical flexor
training group demonstrated a significant reduction in the change of cervical angle
across the duration of the computer task.
Discussion and Conclusion
This study showed that people with chronic neck pain demonstrate a reduced ability
to maintain an upright posture when distracted. Following intervention with an
exercise program targeted at training the craniocervical flexor muscles, subjects with
neck pain demonstrated an improved ability to maintain a neutral cervical posture
during prolonged sitting.