Abstract
Background: With the growing ubiquity of electronic devices, the incidence of upper crossed syndrome (UCS) is increasing every year and tends to affect younger populations. The study designed to assess the effect of cervical and thoracic "Daoyin" training on pain, posture, pulmonary function, cervical range of motion, and emotional state in college students with UCS.
Methods: We conducted a parallel-group randomized control study, assigning 74 college students to intervention group (IG) and control group (CG) at Fujian Medical University, Fujian, China. Instructed cervical and thoracic "Daoyin" training was given to students in the IG for eight weeks, five days a week for 45 minutes, whereas students in the CG continued with their usual activities. Primary outcomes, including forward head and shoulder angles, pain and cervical spine function, as well as secondary outcomes, such as pulmonary function, cervical range of motion and emotional state were measured at baseline and at a follow-up of eight weeks. These measurements were conducted using photogrammetry, visual analog scale(VAS), Neck Disability Index(NDI), pulmonary function, cervical range of motion test and Self-rating Anxiety Scale, respectively. We analyzed the effect of cervical and thoracic "Daoyin" training on college students with UCS using a general linear model.
Results: Analyses using general linear model revealed that the IG had a obvious improvement in the forward head angle, forward shoulder angle, and emotional state compared with the CG from baseline to eight weeks post-intervention (F=11.415, P<0.001; F=5.490, P=0.020; F=4.411, P=0.037). In addition, there were significant improvements in VAS (d=0.854, P<0.001), NDI (d=0.754, P=0.005), pulmonary function (forced vital capacity (FVC) (d=0.531, P=0.025), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) (d=0.521, P=0.028), FEV1/FVC (d=0.540, P=0.034), maximal voluntary ventilation (MVV) (d=0.888, P<0.001) and cervical range of motion in forward flexion (FF) (d=0.353, P=0.029) at the end of 8-week intervention in IG. No side-effects were observed in this study.
Conclusion: Cervical and thoracic “Daoyin” training can improve the pain, posture, cervical spine function, pulmonary function, cervical range of motion in forward flexion , and emotional state of college students with UCS to some extent.
Trial registration: ChiCTR2300072669 (20/06/2023), Prospective registration, www.chictr.org.cn