Kamal Azadi, Manouchehr Haidary, ّarzaneh Saki,
Volume 13, Issue 3 (Iranian Journal of Ergonomics-In Press 2025)
Abstract
Introduction: In recent years, the use of smartphones has affected people's lifestyles and caused postural abnormalities, especially in the spine. Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the effect of corrective exercises on proprioception, forward head posture, shoulder and neck muscle strength in male students who use mobile phones.
Method: The research method was semi-experimental and pre-test, post-test. The statistical population consisted of 34 students (mean age 15.34) from the city of Rosen, who were randomly divided into two groups of 17 (experimental group and control group). The experimental group's exercise program was carried out for 6 weeks, 3 sessions per week (total 18 sessions) and each session lasted 1 hour. During this period, the control group did not receive exercise. Before and after the intervention, the variables of head forward were measured by imaging, neck muscle strength using a dynamometer, neck proprioception using a laser pointer, and shoulder protrusion using a graduated ruler. The data were analyzed using correlated and independent t-tests and SPSS software.
Results: Based on the findings of the present study, head forward (P=0.001), shoulder forward (P=0.001), neck muscle strength (P=0.001), and neck proprioception (P=0.001), improved in the experimental group after implementing the training protocol, but no significant improvement was observed in the control group for head forward (P=0.188), shoulder forward (P=0.211), neck muscle strength (P=0.402), and neck proprioception(P=0.452).
Conclusion: In general, it can be said that 6 weeks of corrective exercises improve neck pain and have positive effects on controlling body abnormalities. It also reduces pain and increases neck muscle strength and improves neck proprioception by positively affecting head forward.
