Clinical trial NCT04783454: Preventing Neck & Back Pain in Teleworking Office Workers: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Official title: Preventing Neck & Back Pain in Teleworking Office Workers: a Randomized Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Neck Pain
Low Back Pain
Back Pain
Keywords: desktop workers
telework
remote work
sedentary work
primary prevention
Lead sponsor: University Ghent
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2021-03-05
Enrollment: 600
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 18
Maximum age (years): 69
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: yes
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: PREVENTION

Brief summary: 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: 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).

Eligibility criteria: 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

Primary outcomes:
measure: neck pain
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: low back pain
timeFrame: 1 year
Secondary outcomes:
measure: behavioral change
timeFrame: 1 year
measure: physical activity (Baecke Questionnaire)
timeFrame: 1year
measure: time to exposure
timeFrame: 1year
measure: global perceived effect
timeFrame: 1year
measure: use of (pain) medication and/or (para)medical care
timeFrame: 1year
measure: Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21 questionnaire)
timeFrame: 1year
measure: 36-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-36 questionnaire)
timeFrame: 1year
measure: Insomnia severity index (ISI questionnaire)
timeFrame: 1year
Other outcomes:
Locations:
city: Ghent
country: Belgium
facility: Ghent University
state: East Flanders
Study officials:
References: