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Abstract
Background
Chronic neck pain is a common musculoskeletal condition among office workers and is increasingly associated with prolonged computer use, sustained static postures, repetitive upper-limb activity, insufficient physical activity, and psychosocial occupational stress. Manual therapy and therapeutic exercise are frequently used physiotherapy approaches; however, their comparative real-world effectiveness among office workers remains insufficiently characterized, particularly in routine clinical and occupational settings.
Objective
To compare pain intensity, neck-related disability, functional limitation, and selected clinical and occupational characteristics among office workers with chronic neck pain who had recently received manual therapy or therapeutic exercise.
Methods
A comparative cross-sectional study was designed among adult office workers aged 18–60 years with chronic nonspecific neck pain persisting for at least 12 weeks. Participants were classified according to the principal physiotherapy approach received during the preceding treatment period: manual therapy or therapeutic exercise. The primary outcomes were current neck pain intensity measured using the Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and neck-related disability measured using the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Secondary variables included age, sex, body mass index, duration of employment, daily computer-use duration, ergonomic exposure, physical activity, sleep duration, treatment adherence, duration of neck pain, and work-related functional limitation. Descriptive statistics, independent-samples t test or Mann–Whitney U test, chi-square test, and multivariable linear regression were planned according to data distribution and outcome characteristics.
Results
In an appropriately completed study, between-group differences in NPRS and NDI reported with mean/median differences, 95% confidence intervals, standardized effect sizes, and adjusted regression coefficients. Potential confounders included age, sex, baseline symptom duration, computer exposure, ergonomic risk, physical activity, and treatment adherence.
Conclusion
This study identified differences in pain and disability profiles among office workers receiving manual therapy or therapeutic exercise, but it cannot establish that one treatment causes greater clinical improvement than the other. Future prospective randomized studies should directly compare standardized treatment protocols while controlling for adherence, baseline severity, ergonomic exposure, and psychosocial factors.