NCT04784793

Postural Alignment Exercise Mobile App for Cervical and Thoracic Spine Regions

A Mobile App for Postural Alignment Exercises in Cervical and Thoracic Spine Regions: Design, Development, Usability and Randomized Controlled Pilot Study

• Status: Completed
• Phase: N/A
• Study type: Interventional
• Enrollment: 40 (actual)
• Sponsor: Marmara University · Academic / Other
• Sex: All
• Age: 18 Years – 25 Years
• Healthy volunteers: Accepted

Summary

Postural alignment in the cervical and thoracic regions is affected by various risks such as smartphone use in particular young adults. The small screen of smartphones causes ergonomic risk for posture and musculoskeletal system. Previous studies found that neck, shoulder, and upper back pain associated with the overuse of smartphones. Neck pain often arises from unideal postures. Participants should be informed about these risks and encouraged to exercise to be protective. Digital health apps' use is rising by the day and health apps offer opportunities for both healthcare professionals and users. Therefore, this study aimed to develop an app including preventive exercise interventions to keep postural alignment in cervical and thoracic spine regions employing an iterative, user-centred design and to test the usability of the app and evaluate its effectiveness with a pilot randomized controlled trial

Conditions

• Development and Design of Mobile App
• Preventive Physiotherapy
• Exercise Adherence
• Cervical and Thoracic Spine

Interventions

Type	Name	Description
OTHER	App-based group	Participants received home exercise programs by a postural alignment exercise mobile app we developed. The postural alignment app included 3 main emerged themes were recorded as self-assessment, neck/shoulder, and upper back-specific exercise content, and motivational notifications. Participants can evaluate themselves in the application thanks to the self-assessment, receive motivational notifications during the day, and exercise reminders on the days determined by them. They can apply the exercise program with the formed exercise content videos. The exercise program consists of combined exercises that postural alignment plus exercises of neck spinal stabilization, stretching, and strengthening of neck/shoulders/upper back regions. Both group participants were requested to do the exercises from the app/brochure 3 times a week, for 6 weeks.
OTHER	Control group	Participants received home exercise programs as a paper handout. The exercise program was the same for app-based and control groups. Both group participants were requested to do the exercises from the app/brochure 3 times a week, for 6 weeks.

Timeline

• Start date: 2018-04-01
• Primary completion: 2018-09-15
• Completion: 2020-11-01
• First posted: 2021-03-05
• Last updated: 2021-03-05

Locations

1 site across 1 country: Turkey (Türkiye)