Effectiveness of exercise in office workers with neck pain: A systematic review and meta-analysis.

Only English full-text randomised controlled trials were searched, so relevant studies in other languages may have been missed. Only eight trials were included, and endurance and stretching were each tested in only one trial. No trial blinded participants or therapists, so placebo effects or therapist enthusiasm could influence results. Four of the eight trials did not conceal allocation, creating possible systematic bias. The combined pain and quality-of-life analyses had high heterogeneity, partly because the two trials had very different sample sizes. Outcome measures and intervention durations varied across trials, so many results could not be pooled. Several trials enrolled mostly or only women, limiting generalisability to men. One trial had baseline differences between groups, including lower pain in the control group, so the comparison is harder to interpret. Several labelled strengthening groups also included stretching, aerobic exercise, trunk and leg exercises, or wrist exercises, and the stretching trial also gave an ergonomic handout, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.

Do not conclude that neck strengthening alone caused the pain reduction. Some labelled strengthening groups also included stretching, aerobic exercise, trunk and leg exercises, or wrist exercises, and the stretching trial also gave an ergonomic handout, so the contribution of any single component cannot be separated.