Physical Management of Pain and Disability among Healthcare Workers Due to Mechanical Neck Pain: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Abstract

Mechanical neck pain (MNP) in the second most common disability among healthcare workers. The main objective of this study was to compare the effects of dry needling (DN) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) for the management of MNP among healthcare workers. A single blind RCT (n = 30) was conducted at the Neuro Counsel Clinic, Islamabad. Simple convenient sampling techniques were used to recruit participants of age 20-50 years who had no comorbidity of any kind. Two equal groups were made. Group A received DN for ×1/day for 2 weeks and Group B received TENS at the rate of ×2/day for 2 weeks. Data were evaluated on the basis of Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and Neck Disability Index (NDI) score. Prepost data were analyzed for within group (Wilcoxon rank test) and between groups (Mann–Whitney U test). The level of significance was kept at P < 0.05. The mean ± standard deviation (SD) of age in Group A was 33.87 ± 8.18 while in Group B it was 33.67 ± 7.60. Wilcoxon rank test revealed that both techniques are effective for within-group analysis (P < 0.001). Mann–Whitney U test revealed that both techniques showed no significant results on NPRS score as P > 0.05 but the NDI score revealed that there is a significant difference between groups (P < 0.05). On the basis of results, it is concluded that DN is more effective when compared to TENS for disability management in MNP sufferers.