Preventing Neck & Back Pain in Teleworking Office Workers: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of a general training program and educational session to prevent neck and/or low back pain in desktop workers

Detailed Description
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After being informed about the study and potential risks, all subjects that met the preset inclusion criteria and gave written informed consent to participate will be randomized into an intervention or control group in a 1:1 ratio. Next, subjects of both groups will undergo baseline testing (online survey). The subjects of the intervention group receive a single educational video (online) and are motivated to follow 2 training sessions of 60 minutes each, during 12 consecutive weeks. Instructions for the specific exercises are provided via an online platform. The subjects of the control group are instructed to maintain their normal working activities and activities of daily life and receive no further intervention. Subjects of both groups are prompted to fill out a weekly online logbook to gather information on their physical activity and neck and/or back complaints. All subjects undergo post-intervention testing at 12 weeks (short term effects), 6 months, and 12 months (long term effects).

Official Title
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Preventing Neck & Back Pain in Teleworking Office Workers: a Randomized Controlled Trial

Conditions
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Neck Pain, Low Back Pain, Back Pain

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Exercise program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria age between 18-69 years perform regular desktop work (at least 20 hours/week) perform desktop work for at least 1 year (employee or student) Exclusion Criteria: documented structural neck- and/or back pathology (confirmed by medical imaging) known shoulder or vestibular pathology whiplash-associated disorders history of surgery in the neck, shoulder, hip, and/or back area (history of) chronic pain condition serious headache serious cardiovascular/metabolic/systemic/neurological conditions chronic fatigue syndrome fibromyalgia psychiatric conditions or history of serious depression serious catastrophizing thoughts pregnancy or delivery in the past year

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years
Maximum Age: 69 Years

Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Design Details

Primary Purpose: Prevention
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Intervention<br>single (online) educational video on how the prevention program is designed and general advice on (how to adopt) a healthy lifestyle 12-week training program: 2 sessions of 60 minutes per week, with the focus of the first session on cardiovascular exercises, and the focus of the second session on mobility and strengthening exercises | Other: Exercise program<br>* educational video on training program design and healthy lifestyle 24 training sessions (12 on cardiovascular endurance training, 12 on mobility and strength)<br>|
| No Intervention: control<br>no intervention (wait and see approach) | |

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| neck pain | Did you develop neck pain (YES or NO) | 1 year | 
| low back pain | Did you develop low back pain (YES or NO) | 1 year | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| behavioral change | Tendency to remain physically active (PA) during working hours as compared to before your participation in this study (Likert-type scale: not at all PA - slightly less PA - equally PA - slightly more PA - clearly more PA) | 1 year | 
| physical activity (Baecke Questionnaire) | physical activity measurement (activities are scored on a scale of 1-5 with the total scored from 3-15. the lower the score, the less physically active) | 1year | 
| time to exposure | amount of desktop work (hours/week) | 1year | 
| global perceived effect | What is your global perceived effect of the intervention program (NRS - score/100) | 1year | 
| use of (pain) medication and/or (para)medical care | use of (pain) medication and/or (para)medical care (name, dosage/frequency, effect, prescribed or direct acces) | 1year | 
| Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21 questionnaire) | fear, depressive mood, and stress due to COVID-19 crisis and confinement (21 items, Each item is scored from 0 to 3 and is doubled so the global ISI score ranges from 0 to 42) | 1year | 
| 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 questionnaire) | quality of life during confinement and telework (item scores are summed to scale scores and transformed into a hundred point scale; scores are transformed so that a higher score indicates better health status) | 1year | 
| Insomnia severity index (ISI questionnaire) | quality of sleep during confinement and telework (7 items, Each item is scored from 0 to 4 and the global ISI score ranges from 0 to 28) | 1year | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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desktop workers, telework, remote work, sedentary work, primary prevention