An Experimental Study to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Selected Nursing Interventions on Neck Pain and Functional Limitation among Sedentary office Workers with work Related Neck Pain in Selected settings of Madurai District

Background of the Study: Work related neck pain is a common problem among office workers, especially those who are intensive computer users.

Aim: The aim of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of selected nursing intervention (neck exercises, ergonomic teaching) on neck pain and functional limitation among sedentary office workers with work related neck pain.

Materials and Methods: The study consisted a total of 60 samples, 30 in the experimental group and 30 in the control group. The convenience sampling technique was used to select samples. The design adopted for the study was quasi experimental design with non-equivalent pretest and posttest control group design. The teaching on ergonomics and neck exercises were administered for 5weeks to experimental group. Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used.

Result: The results revealed that about 66.6% of the samples in experimental group had moderate neck pain in the pretest. On 15^th day posttest, most of the samples had moderate level of neck pain (60%). On 30th day, 73.3% had mild pain and 13.3% samples reported no neck pain. In the control group, 73.3% had moderate neck pain and 20% reported severe neck pain in the pretest. On 15th and 30th day posttest, the number of samples with mild, moderate and severe neck pain remained the same as that of pretest with few changes. In the pretest, majority of the samples in the experimental group (70%) and in the control group (73.3%) had moderate level functional limitation. In the posttest there was improvement in functional ability in the experimental group where as in control group majority (66.6%) of the samples continued to have moderate level functional limitation. Neck pain was positively related with functional limitation among sedentary office workers [r=(0.7; p (0.001)]. There was an association between neck pain and type of chair, posture, computer put on special desk, computer screen position, practices some exercises to relax body muscles during work and number of hours of computer use. There was an association between the functional limitation and onset of pain, ventilation on office, posture and number of hours of computer uses. The selected interventions, namely neck exercises and teaching ergonomics proved effective in reducing neck pain (on 15th day posttest (t=3.3; p < 0.001), on 30th day posttest (t =8; p < 0.001)) and improving functional ability [on 15th day posttest t(6), p < 0.001), 30th day posttest t(11.7), p < 0.001)).

Conclusion: The study concluded that the neck exercises and teaching on ergonomics is an effective non pharmacological intervention in the treatment of work related neck pain among sedentary office workers.