Efficacy of biofeedback exercise of deep neck flexors on cervicogenic headache / Maha Mohamed Ahmed Abdullah ; Supervised Salwa Fadl Abdelmageed , Emad Samuel Boles , Karima Abdelaty Hassan

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Department of Musculoskeletal Disorders

Background: Cervicogenic headache (CGH) is a common condition causing significant disability. Patients with CGH had less strength and endurance of deep neck flexors (DNFs).Purpose: The purpose of this study was to investigate efficacy of (DNFs) strength exercise using pressure biofeedback unit (PBU) for CGH patients. Methods: Thirty patients (19 females and 11 males) with cervicogenic headache, their age ranged from twenty to forty years, were randomly allocated into group A received DNFs strength exercise using PBU in addition to conventional program and group B received conventional program. Treatment applied three times per week for 4 weeks. Each patient was assessed for pain, functional disability, cervical range of motion, using visual analogue scale (VAS),neck disability index (NDI) and OB Myrin goniometry respectively in addition to headache frequency per week pre and post treatment. Results: The results showed there was no significant difference in the mean values of the headache pain (p = 0.13), neck pain (p = 0.78), NDI (p = 0.77) and ROM (p > 0.5) between DNFs group and conventional group post-treatment but there was a significant decrease in the mean values of headache frequency of the DNFs group post-treatment compared with that of conventional group B (p = 0.003).Conclusion: These results suggest that DNFs exercise using PBU is effective in the reducing headache frequency in individuals with cervicogenic headache than conventional exercise

Issued also as CD