The effects of walking intervention on preventing neck pain in office workers: A randomized controlled trial

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of increased daily walking steps on the 6-month incidence of neck pain among office workers.

Methods: Healthy office workers with high risk of neck pain were recruited into a 6-month prospective cluster-randomized controlled trial. Participants were randomly assigned at the cluster level, into either intervention (n = 50) or control (n = 41) groups. Participants in the intervention group were instructed to increase their daily walking steps to a designated level for a duration of 6 months. Participants in the control group received no intervention. The outcome measures included the 6-month incidence of neck pain as well as its pain intensity and disability level. Analyses were performed using multivariable logistic regression model.

Results: Of the participants in the intervention and control groups, 22% and 34% reported a 6-month incidence of neck pain, respectively. After adjusting for confounders, a significant preventive effect of walking intervention was found (adjusted odd ratio 0.22, 95% confidence interval 0.06-0.75). No significant difference in pain intensity and disability level was found between those in the intervention and control groups.

Conclusion: An intervention to increase daily walking steps reduced onset neck pain in high-risk office workers. However, the walking interventions did not decrease pain intensity and disability in those increasing the number of daily walking steps compared to the control group.