Effect of a Five-week Scapular Correction Exercise in Patients with Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the change in pain, Neck Disability Index score, and the craniovertebral angle by per- forming scapular correction exercise or general neck exercise for five weeks in participants with mechanical neck pain. Methods: A total of 31 participants were randomly assigned between the scapular correction exercise and the general neck exercise groups, and all participants performed intervention for 40 minutes each, three times a week for five weeks The effects were evaluated by measuring the Visual Analog Scale score, the Neck Disability Index score, and the craniovertebral angle, before and after the intervention. Independent t-tests were used to compare differences between two groups, and to compare differences between pre- and post-inter- vention, paired t-tests were used. Results: As measured before and after the intervention, the scapular correction exercise group showed significant improvement in all variables (p< 0.05), while the general neck exercise group improved only in the neck disability index score. The differences between the two groups revealed further improvement in the scapular correction exercise group compared to the general neck exercise group (p< 0.05). Conclusion: We found that five weeks of the scapular correction exercise to modify the position and movements of the scapula is clini- cally an important treatment tool for recovery from chronic mechanical neck pain symptoms and restoration of proper neck function. Keywords: Scapular correction exercise, Neck pain, Craniovertebral angle