Thesis (M.Sc.) - Cairo University - Faculty of Physical Therapy - Basic Science

Back ground: Neck pain is one of the most common and painful musculoskeletal conditions. Point prevalence ranges from 6% to 22% and up to 38% of the elderly population, while lifetime prevalence ranges from 14.2% to 71%. Up till now no randomized studies investigated the effect of active and passive stretch on intervertebral movement in non-specific neck pain. The purpose: the current study was investigate the effect of the passive stretch on intervertebral movement and the effect of active stretch on intervertebral movement in non-specific neck pain and comparing between active and passive stretch on pain. Material and methods: Forty five subjects from both sexes with age ranged from 18-30 years participated in this study and assigned in three groups, group I (15) received active stretch, ultrasound and TENS. Group II (15) received passive stretch, ultrasound and TENS. Group III (15) received ultrasound and TENS. The radiological assessment used to measure rotational and translational movement of intervertebral movement before and after treatment and using Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) to assess pain before and after treatment. Results: The between group analysis using 2MANOVA3 revealed a significant effect among the three groups in favor of the active stretch as P-value = 0.0001. Conclusion: active stretch had great effect in increasing intervertebral movement than passive stretch and no significant difference in pain between active and passive stretch

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