COMPARATIVE EFFECT OF ELECTRICAL NERVE STIMULATION AND CERVICAL STABILIZATION EXERCISES ON PAIN AND RANGE OF MOTION OF PHYSIOTHERAPY STUDENTS WITH TEXT NECK SYNDROME

Background: Text Neck Syndrome (TNS) is a modern soft tissue musculoskeletal disorder that is associated with the use of handheld electronic devices such as smartphones and tablets among young adults for a prolonged period of time. Transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and cervical stabilization exercise (CSE) were used in the management of nonspecific cervical dysfunctions such as TNS. The impact of TNS on the cervical spine, includes changes in spinal curvature and muscle imbalances. Aim: The study determined and compared the effect of TENS and CSE on pain intensity and cervical range of motion. Method: A purposive sampling technique, using the smartphone addiction scale (SAS) questionnaire was used to select subjects for this study. Students with symptoms like neck pain, shoulder pain were particularly asked to fill the questionnaire to determine their SAS score. Subjects with SAS score between 22 and 33 were recruited. Visual analogue scale and tape measure were used to assess pain intensity and ROM respectively. Neck disability index questionnaire was also used to examine the subjects’ disability. Subjects were seen 2 times per week for 6 weeks. Data collected were taken at 1st, 3rd and 6th week. Data was analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistics (repeated measure ANOVA and one-way ANOVA). Alpha level was set at 0.05. Results: The average SAS for the subjects was 35.13±6.62. Within group comparison showed that TENS was significant on pain intensity (p=0.000) and no effect on cervical range of motion (p>0.05). And CSE was effective on pain intensity (p=0.000), also no effect on cervical range of motion (p>0.05) and effect of the combination of both TENS and CSE was significant on both pain intensity (p=0.001) and cervical range of motion (p