The Effects of a Corrective Exercise on Pain and Quality of Life Factors and Spinal Curvature Angles of Nurses with Kyphosis and Forward Head Position in A Military Medical Center

Work-related musculoskeletal disorders are the main cause of lost working time, increased costs and human injuries of the workforce, including pain. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of a corrective exercise on pain and quality of life factors and spinal curvature angles of male formal nurses with kyphosis and forward head position in a military medical center.

The present study was a quasi-experimental study in a military medical center in Tehran in 1398, in which 62 male formal nurses with kyphosis and forward head position (out of 116 nurses) were purposefully identified and divided into two groups of 31 experimental and control. The experimental group participated in a corrective exercise program focused on correcting kyphosis and forward head position, for 8 weeks and 3 sessions per week. For this purpose, a flexible ruler and goniometer were used to assess the kyphosis and forward head position, respectively. The VAS and SF-36 questionnaires before and after exercise were used to assess pain and quality of life, respectively. Independent and paired T-test and Mann-Whitney U test were used for data analysis at the significant level of α = 0.05 with SPSS 22 software.

There was a significant difference between the pre and post-test Intragroup findings variables kyphosis angle (P=0.001), forward head position (P=0.001), pain (P=0.001), and physical dimensions of the quality of life questionnaire (P=0.017) in the experimental group after 8 weeks of corrective exercises. But this wasn’t significant in the control group. There was a significant difference between the intergroup findings in the experimental group and the control group of the variables such as kyphosis angle (P=0.023), forward head position (P=0.011), pain (P=0.024) and physical dimensions of quality of life questionnaire (P=0.017). But there was no significant difference between psychological factors associated with quality of life questionnaire in both experimental and control groups (P≥0.05).

According to the research findings, it can be concluded that in order to reduce pain and to correct or prevent musculoskeletal disorders and improve the quality of life especially physical dimensions, not only nurses and military personnel, rather, everyone in the community should incorporate corrective exercises along with other daily and exercise programs.