Effects of Whole-body Stretching Exercise for Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain and Physical Exertion Among Healthcare Professionals

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Purpose of the study:To investigate effect of whole-body stretching (WBS) exercise during lunch-break for reducing musculoskeletal pain and physical exertion among healthcare professionals

Detailed Description
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This study involved a single-blinded 2-arm randomized controlled trial (RCT) to compare the effect of WBS exercise versus control group during lunch-break to reduce symptoms of WRMSDs in healthcare professionals. sixty healthcare professionals were recruited from Najran university hospital, Saudi Arabia. Study objectives and procedure were properly explained and written informed consent was obtained at the beginning of the study. All the participants were randomly assigned into two equal groups A and B. Group A were received the 30 minutes of whole body stretching class while group B were received an education program which includes ergonomic principles, WRMSDs and their risk factors, as well as manual handling techniques were explained .

Official Title
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Effects of Whole-body Stretching Exercise During Lunch-break for Reducing Musculoskeletal Pain and Physical Exertion Among Healthcare Professionals

Conditions
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Healthcare Professionals

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: whole body stretching excercise
* Other: educational program


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Full time healthcare professionals with more than one year of experience were eligible to participate Exclusion Criteria: Acute musculoskeletal symptoms (pain intensity on visual analogue scale (VAS) > 7)
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: Treatment
Allocation: Randomized
Intervention Model: Parallel Assignment
Masking: Double


Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| Experimental: Group A<br>WBS-Whole body stretching exercise group | Other: whole body stretching excercise<br>* For the WBS group, each 30 minutes exercise class was run by a one trained physiotherapist to serve a maximum of 10 participants (10 x 3 = 30 participants) working in the hospital. Participants invited to attend the exercise class 3 times a week for 6 weeks in their hospital during lunch-break. During each session, participants asked to perform WBS exercise (Franco et al., 2008).<br>Other: educational program<br>* Participants received an education program which includes ergonomic principles, WRMSDs and their risk factors, as well as manual handling techniques(Bolbol et al., 2017).<br>|
| Active Comparator: Group B<br>control group | Other: educational program<br>* Participants received an education program which includes ergonomic principles, WRMSDs and their risk factors, as well as manual handling techniques(Bolbol et al., 2017).<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| musculoskeletal pain | musculoskeletal pain were assessed by Nordic musculoskeletal questionnaire | 6 Weeks | 
| physical exertion | physical exertion were assessed by Borg rating of perceived exertion | 6 Weeks |