RESUMO
Mechanical neck pain is a most common disorder in general population, especially in the working age group. Due to the economic expense caused by mechanical neck pain is extremely high. Recent studies have shown that either performing thoracic spine manipulation or mobilization on mechanical neck pain patients resulted in immediate improvements in symptoms, however no any study has exactly compared effectiveness between thoracic spine manipulation and mobilization on mechanical neck pain yet. The main purpose of this study was to compare immediate effects of single manipulation and single mobilization directed at the thoracic spine in patients with chronic mechanical neck pain. Twenty four subjects with chronic mechanical neck pain participated in this study. Subjects were randomly allocated into two groups; single thoracic manipulation and single thoracic mobilization. Each subject was measured cervical range of motion by a Cervical Range of Motion (CROM) device and assessed pain level by a Visual Analog Scale (VAS) immediately before and after treatment intervention. The results demonstrated that within-group, there was a significant increase range of motion in all directions after performing single thoracic manipulation (P
RESUMO
Active range of motion of the cervical spine is one of the most common tools used to evaluate the quality of neck pain patients. Many measurement methods, for in instance an universal goniometers (UG), an inclinometers and a Cervical Range of Motion (CROM), have been employed to asses a magnitude of cervical range of motion , however there is a lack of the evidence to support the comparison of the reliability between the three measurement methods. The purpose of this study was to determine the intratester reliability of the three measurement methods in normal subjects. Ten subjects, aged 23.5 ± 1.9 years, were recruited in this study. Each subject was measured three times in each direction for each measurement method. Cervical flexion, extension and rotation were measured. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) were used to quantify within-tester reliability. The results demonstrated that the CROM measurement method provided the highest reliability (ICC values range from 0.91 to 0.95) whereas the lowest reliability (ICC values range from 0.63 to 0.90) was obtained by the universal goniometer. Among these three measurement methods, the CROM provided the highest intratester reliability.
RESUMO
Nowadays, the number of patients with musculoskeletal disorders has been increasing both in public and private hospitals. A study regarding prevalence of these conditions is vital for health promotion and prevention for people in the community. This study aimed to report the prevalence of musculoskeletal disorders in patients who received treatments from The Office for Medical Technology and Physical Therapy Health Service, Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Khon Kaen University during October 2006 – September 2007. The results showed that there were 688 new cases who were treated during official time (Sixty percent were female). Most of these patients were middle-aged (forty-five percents of aged between 45-64 years old). Forty-one percents of the patients were employed by the university whereas the rest worked outsides. There were 905 lesion sites. The three most frequent areas of disorders were lower back, neck and upper back respectively. Most of these patients worked in the Faculty of Associated Medical Sciences, Faculty of Nursing, and Faculty of Dentistry respectively. The most frequently found of the disorders was neck problem. The findings may contribute to further study for development of appropriate health promotion and prevention programs for patients with musculoskeletal disorders.