Effect of One Period of Exercise-Therapy and an Engonomic Intervention on the Rate of Chronic Neck Pain and Disability in Computer Users

Neck pain is a common disorder among computer users that can reduce the personal yield. So the prevention of it is an important matter in computer users. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of a period of exercise therapy and an ergonomic intervention on chronic neck pain and disability among computer users. In this quasi-experimental cross-sectional study in 2012, 30 female computer users of Lorestan University of Medical Sciences with at least 6 months experience of neck pain were selected purposefully by a demographic questionnaire. Subjects were located in experimental (n=15) and control (n=15) groups. The experimental group received therapeutic exercises and ergonomic intervention for two months but control group received no therapeutic intervention. The rate of neck pain and disability was measured by chronic neck pain and disability index questionnaire before and after of exercise therapy and ergonomic intervention. Data were analyzed by independent T test and Pearson correlation coefficient in SPSS 16 software. There were significant differences between mean of chronic neck pain and disability scores of the two groups (p<0.05). But there were no significant relationships between neck pain, disability and the subjects’ work experience. Exercise therapy along with ergonomic intervention is useful for treatment of chronic neck pain.