Effect of Cervical Proprioceptive Sensorimotor Training Combined With Ergonomic Postural Correction Versus Conventional Cervical Exercises on Cervical Joint Position Error, Postural Alignment, Neck Pain, and Functional Performance in Adults With Chronic Mechanical Neck Pain
Background: Chronic mechanical neck pain is frequently accompanied by altered cervical sensorimotor control, impaired joint repositioning accuracy, forward-head posture, pain, and activity limitation. Exercise-based rehabilitation may improve symptoms, while specific proprioceptive and sensorimotor training targets impaired cervical afferent processing more directly.
Objective: To determine whether cervical proprioceptive sensorimotor training combined with ergonomic postural correction produces greater improvements in cervical joint position error (JPE), postural alignment, neck pain, and functional performance than conventional cervical exercises in adults with chronic mechanical neck pain.
Methods: In this two-arm, parallel-group randomized controlled trial template, 60 adults with chronic mechanical neck pain are allocated 1:1 to an experimental group receiving cervical proprioceptive sensorimotor training plus ergonomic postural correction or a control group receiving conventional cervical exercises. A 6-week intervention with three supervised sessions per week is proposed. Primary outcome is cervical JPE; secondary outcomes include craniovertebral angle, Numeric Pain Rating Scale (NPRS), Neck Disability Index (NDI), and Patient-Specific Functional Scale (PSFS).
Results: Illustrative results are provided only to demonstrate appropriate within-group and between-group reporting, tables, and graphs. The simulated pattern favors the combined intervention across the prespecified outcomes; no clinical inference should be made from these placeholder values.
Conclusion: The proposed trial directly tests whether combining cervical sensorimotor retraining with ergonomic correction provides additional benefit over conventional cervical exercise. Actual conclusions should be based exclusively on the final analyzed dataset.
