The effects of walking intervention on preventing neck pain in office workers: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Neck pain is one of the most important musculoskeletal problems in office workers with 42%-69% of office workers reporting neck pain and 34%-49% of office workers developing new onset of neck pain every year. 1-4 Although rapid improvement in neck symptoms is common, 5 17% of office workers who report a new onset of neck pain developed chronicity. 6 Neck pain causes personal suffering, disability, and impaired quality of work and life in general, which contributes to a great socioeconomic burden. 1,7,8 Subsequently, the Neck Pain Task Force has called for effective strategies to prevent neck pain. 1

Effects of an active break and postural shift intervention on preventing neck and low-back pain among high-risk office workers: a 3-arm cluster-randomized controlled trial

“…In this study, the 6-month onset of neck and low-back pain in office workers of the control group were 44% and 33%, respectively. These findings are in line with a previous study by Sitthipornvorakul et al ( 32 ), showing the 6-month incidence of neck pain among office workers to be 34%. However, Lapointe et al ( 33 ) reported the 6-month onset of neck and low-back pain among office workers to be 18% and 14%, respectively.…”

“…Sitthipornvorakul et al ( 32 ) has reported that a walking intervention can largely reduce the 6-month incidence rate of neck pain (adjusted odds ratio of 0.22) among high-risk healthy office workers, for which the same inclusion criteria as those in the present study were used. Danquah et al ( 35 ) also found a reduction in the prevalence of neck pain after their 3-month intervention among office workers, who received the Take a Stand!…”

Factors associated with neck and shoulder pain: a cross-sectional study among 16,000 adults in five county councils in Sweden

“…Most participants performed general physical activities for less than 150 min/week (64% of participants with neck and shoulder pain and 63% of participants without pain). Office workers who reported walking as their general physical activity had a reduced incidence of neck pain onset, but there was no significant difference in neck pain intensity, compared to the control group [18]. In the present study, we found an association between aerobic physical activity, i.e., exercises that enhance breathing and heart rate, and lower odds of experiencing neck or shoulder pain.…”

“…However, studies investigating how physical activity and exercise are associated with neck pain and absence from work have provided inconclusive results [12][13][14][15][16][17][18]. An increase in regular walking reduced the onset of neck pain at work, but pain intensity and disability were not significantly different compared to a control group [18]. Frequent participation in sports activities was related to less frequent lower back pain, but not less frequent neck pain [14].…”

“…Aerobic physical activity (i.e., activities that improve cardiorespiratory fitness), resistance training, and neck-specific exercises showed only small effects on neck and shoulder pain [19,21] and work ability [20], compared to control groups. Despite these inconclusive findings on the impact of physical activity on neck and shoulder pain [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21], it has been shown that inactivity, low fitness levels, and sitting during leisure time are related to more perceived neck and back pain [23]. Moreover, neck pain has been associated with sleep disturbances [24], and recovery from neck pain is less likely to occur in individuals with poor sleep quality, compared to individuals with good sleep quality [25].…”