Managing Neck Pain: Treatment Preferences Amongst Physical Therapist of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

Abstract

Background: Neck pain is one of the most common and prevalent health problems which may interrupt an individual’s well-being and productivity, making it a serious public health issue even if the consequences aren’t severe. It is a topic of keen interest among health professionals/practitioners, executives and policy makers in the health sector.

Methodology: A was cross sectional survey was conducted over a time period of six months for determining the commonly used treatment approaches by the physical therapists of KP for neck pain For data collection census was performed, giving us the total sample of 120 which included all the physical therapists practicing in tertiary care and DHQ hospitals of KP. For data collection, a self-administered questionnaire from a previously published study was utilized. Frequency distribution was demonstrated with the help of percentages and counts while for comparing categorical variables, Chi-square test was utilized. To indicate Statistical significance, P value of <0.05 was used.

Results: A wide range of interventions including manual and exercises therapies were utilized. Electrotherapy, ergonomic and postural education along with work site modifications were also utilized. Exercises for postural control (87%), neck/upper thoracic stretching (79%), strengthening of neck/upper thoracic (75%) were also prescribed mostly while on the other hand local muscle endurance exercises (55%) and static or dynamic stabilization (45%) were utilized mostly where as hot and cold therapy (81%), TENS (69%) and ultrasound (70%) were most commonly used modalities.

Conclusion: Management of neck pain varied across the province with professionals following different protocols in their setups, which reflects lack of proper guidelines for the treatment of a specific condition which are proved by extensive research literature available already.