Abstract
BACKGROUND: Chronic non-specific neck pain is one of the most prevalent musculoskeletal disorders affecting work and lifestyle. Physiotherapy techniques, such as stretching and strength training, have beneficial effects on neck pain. Telerehabilitation exercise programmes could readily address the growing concern of patient adherence to home-based exercise programmes, while being time- and cost-effective. This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of telerehabilitation exercise intervention in females with chronic non-specific neck pain by measuring the pain score, disability index, cervical range of motion (CROM), cervical muscle endurance, and patient adherence. METHODS: In this pilot randomized controlled trial, 31 females (mean age 22.7 ± 2.1 years) were given a 6-week home-based exercise programme based on their assigned group: telerehabilitation (TR) - online software or conventional (CG) - exercise manual. Baseline measurements were collected using the Visual Analog Scale for Pain (VAS Pain), Neck Disability Index (NDI) questionnaire, CROM using the CROM instrument, and cervical muscle endurance through the Craniocervical Flexion Test (CCFT), and repeated after six weeks, in addition to adherence. SPSS version 26.0 was used for all statistical analyses. RESULTS: Based on mixed model ANOVA measures (0 week and 6 weeks), within-group comparisons for both groups showed statistical significance in favour of the exercise programme, for all variables (p<0.05). Telerehabilitation group showed significantly more increase in cervical rotation ROM R (0.006) and L (0.03) post-exercise programme, and longer duration of treatment session (0.02) as compared to conventional group. Between-group comparisons showed no significant differences for all other variables. CONCLUSIONS: Based on our findings, both groups showed significant improvement in neck pain, disability, cervical ROM, and cervical muscle endurance; however, no group was found superior to the other in this regard. While both groups showed good adherence to the frequency of sessions, telerehabilitation exhibited better adherence to the duration of the exercise sessions.