Purpose The current context of the COVID‐19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for home exercise strategies for the relief of neck pain, which, in recent times, has increased. However, there is a gap regarding home exercises that are aimed at reducing neck pain. Therefore, the aim of this study was to develop, validate and culturally adapt a home exercise protocol for neck pain. Methods This was an observational study conducted in three stages: (1) Developing an online search of databases for articles on neck pain exercises. (2) Validating a panel of 12 physical therapists, using the Delphi technique, and (3) Cultural adaptation, through face‐to‐face assessment with individuals aged 18–30 years with neck pain (n = 15). This resulted in the production of a final version of the protocol. Consensus on the protocol items (using the five‐point Likert scale) was considered when the percent agreement was equal to or greater than 75%. Individuals were also asked about pain intensity during the last week before and after performing the protocol. Results A protocol was developed with the principles of neck and scapular stabilization and upper limb movements, for a period of 4 weeks. Nine physical therapists completed two rounds online, and all items in the second version of the protocol presented an agreement of over 75%. The protocol was culturally adapted by the target population, in which 73% of individuals presented pain reduction with a minimally clinically important difference. Conclusion A 4‐week home exercise protocol was created based on the best evidence in the literature, was validated by physical therapists and adapted for the population with neck pain. It proved to be an understandable, useful, practical and convenient tool in the treatment of this disorder and demonstrated an improvement in neck pain. ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT04187001).

Objective: To identify the electrical parameters of transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) that effectively alter cerebral blood flow in rats. Methodology: Six eletronic databases were searched with no time or language restrictions to identify experimental studies with rats using tDCS with anodal and/or cathodal stimulation with or without a comparison group. Internal validity was assessed via the following criteria: housing, lighting, temperature, water/food, groups randomization and ethical aspects. The ‘Laboratory Systematic Review Center for Laboratory animal Experimentation’ (SYRCLE) tool was used to assess risk of bias. The tDCS electrical parameters and cerebral blood flow were considered as primary outcomes and cerebral histological alterations as the secondary outcome. Results: Four articles were included. All four studies were considered to present a high level of scientific bias. The electrical tDCS parameters implemented were heterogeneous but overall, tDCS with anodal stimulation promoted an increase in cerebral blood flow while the cathodal stimulation decreased it. Cerebral histological alterations were assessed in two studies and tissue necrosis was reported in only one animal per study. Conclusion: The identification of tDCS electrical parameters that effectively alter cerebral blood flow in rats was not possible due to the heterogeneity of tDCS protocols being implemented in the literature. Considering the high risk of scientific bias in the included studies, the current available evidence regarding tDCS efficacy is insufficient and inconclusive.

BACKGROUND: Accuracy studies of biophotogrammetry protocols require standardization similar to radiography. OBJECTIVE: To estimate the diagnostic accuracy of a biophotogrammetric assessment protocol for cervical hyperlordosis, compared to radiography, and its intra- and inter-examiner reliability for measuring the cervical lordosis angle. METHODS: A study of diagnostic accuracy in women complaining of cervical pain. Two photos were taken using the CorelDraw biophotogrammetric protocol and one radiograph using the Cobb C1-C7 method. The Intra- and Inter-examiner reliability was calculated using the Kappa index and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC). The Bland-Altman plot and the ROC curve were presented. RESULTS: The sample consisted of 19 women. The accuracy of biophotogrammetry was 94.73% and the reliability between biophotogrammetry and radiography presented an ICC of 0.84 and a Kappa of 0.87. The excellent intra (ICC = 0.94) and inter-examiner (ICC = 0.86) reliability of the biophotogrammetry was confirmed. The area under the ROC curve was 93.5%. The Bland-Altman plot indicated differences between the two instruments close to the mean (1.5∘). CONCLUSION: The biophotogrammetric protocol proved to be accurate in diagnosing cervical hyperlordosis, with excellent reliability between the biophotogrammetric and radiographic assessments. It also demonstrated excellent intra- and inter-examiner reliability in measuring the cervical lordosis angle.

A osteoartrite de joelho tem como principal sintoma a dor. A catastrofização é um fator cognitivo que pode influenciar a sensação dolorosa. O objetivo deste estudo foi avaliar a presença de catastrofização da dor em mulheres com osteoartrite de joelho e a relação da catastrofização com a capacidade funcional, dor, qualidade de vida e mobilidade articular. A amostra foi composta por mulheres com idade de 50 a 80 anos, com osteoartrite de joelho. Foram avaliados: Catastrofização [Pain Catastrofizing Scale (PCS)]; Capacidade funcional [Testes: Sentar-levantar da cadeira; Caminhada de 40m; Subir-descer degraus]; Qualidade de vida [Western Ontário and McMaster Universities Questionnaire (WOMAC) e Medical Outcomes Study 36 – Item Short – Form Health Survey (SF-36)] e mobilidade articular do joelho [goniometria]. Conforme o resultado da PCS, dividiu-se a amostra nos grupos GCC (Com catastrofização) (n=10) e GSC (Sem catastrofização) (n=23). Realizou-se análise de média e desvio-padrão, Teste de Shapiro-Wilk, Teste t de Student ou U de Mann–Whitney e Correlação de Spearman. Considerou-se p<0,05 e IC95%. A amostra foi composta por 33 mulheres, 30,30% apresentaram catastrofização (PCS ≥ 30). O GCC apresentou menor pontuação no WOMAC e maior escore no SF-36 (p<0,05), exceto no domínio aspectos sociais. A catastrofização apresentou correlação significativa com os testes de Sentar-levantar da cadeira e Subir-descer degraus; com o WOMAC e com a maioria das categorias do SF-36. Os resultados sugerem que a catastrofização está relacionada com menor capacidade funcional, pior intensidade da dor e qualidade de vida em mulheres com gonartrose.