Effect of Somatosensory Motor Control Training on Patients with Chronic Mechanical Neck Dysfunction: A Randomized Controlled Trial

Background: Somatosensory motor control training (SS-MCT) has increased attention in the management of chronic mechanical neck dysfunction (CMND), as well as the usual physical therapy program. Aim of Study: To determine whether adding SSMCT to a conventional physiotherapy program is beneficial for patients with CMND or not. Patients and Methods: This randomized controlled trial re-cruited 56 patients with a moderate score on the neck disability index (NDI) who had been complaining of CMND for at least three months. Patients and Methods: Patients were randomly allocated to either group A, which received the conventional physical ther-apy program consisting of hot packs, stretching, and strength-ening exercises, or group B, which underwent a combination of SSMCT and the conventional physical therapy program (n= 28 in each group). The treatment program was applied for four weeks, three times a week. The assessment was applied to all patients before and after the intervention, including neck pain severity evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS), deep neck flexor activation level evaluated by the craniocervical flexion test, and neck function evaluated by the NDI. Results: There was no significant difference between the two groups in the pre-test of VAS, NDI, or neck flexor acti-vation level. The VAS, NDI, and deep neck flexor activation levels increased significantly in both groups. There was also a significant difference in favor of the study group when compar-ing the two groups at the post-test (p-value <0.05). Conclusions: From the results of this clinical trial, it can be concluded that SSMCT can be more efficient in managing CMND than a conventional physical therapy program alone.