Forward Head PostureNCT06745960
Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Forward Head Posture
A study testing electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna) and physical therapy program in people with Forward Head Posture and Rounded Shoulder Posture, run by Cairo University at 1 site in Egypt.
Trial summary
The study aims are: 1. To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation (interferential current) on forward head posture and protracted shoulder in adolescents. 2. To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation on cervical pain, cervical ROM, neck muscle strength, and quality of life in adolescents with… Read more about this study
- Who is it for?
- Ages 15 to 18 years, women only
- Conditions the study is for
- Forward Head Posture, Rounded Shoulder Posture
- What is being tested?
- electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna) and physical therapy program
- Type of treatment
- Medical device
- Could I receive a placebo?
- Yes, some participants may receive a placebo
- How many people
- 40 participants
- Where
- 1 siteEgypt
- Study dates
- Jan 2025to May 2025
- Phase
- Interventional
- Are there results?
- Not yet: the study is under way
Key requirements
Who can take part, as listed by the sponsor. Only the study team can confirm whether you are eligible, so take this list to your doctor.
- Ages 15 to 18 years
- Women only
- No healthy volunteers
- Child, Adult
Who may be able to join
- Girls aged between (15-18) years old.
- Normal weight with BMI ranging from (16-25).
- Adolescents with mild and moderate forward head posture(FHP).
- Adolescents with mild and moderate neck pain.
- Adolescents with protracted shoulder.
Who cannot join
- Cervical disc.
- Previous Shoulder trauma within last 6months.
- Shoulder surgery.
- Cervical fracture.
- Congenital posture deformity.
- Inflammatory disease, spinal tumor, spinal compression, spinal cord infection.
- Taking any medication for pain
Trial locations and contacts
1 site in 1 country. Contact the study team or a site near you to ask about taking part.
Egypt1 site
Faculty of Physical Therapy
Dokki, Giza Governorate
faculty of physical therapy CU Cairo university, +2037617691, info@pt.cu.edu.eg
About this study
Official title: Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Painful Forward Head and Protracted Shoulder Posture in Adolescents
The study aims are:
- To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation (interferential current) on forward head posture and protracted shoulder in adolescents.
- To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation on cervical pain, cervical ROM, neck muscle strength, and quality of life in adolescents with forward head posture and protracted shoulder.
Read the detailed description
Forward head posture (FHP) is commonly defined as the protrusion of the head in the sagittal plane so that the head is placed anterior to the trunk. It can occur because of anterior translation of the head, and it is claimed to be associated with an increase in upper cervical extension, lower cervical flexion, or both.
Patients with FHP often experience neck pain and disability, it is associated with shortening of the upper trapezius, the posterior cervical extensor muscles, the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and levator scapulae muscle. Thus, FHP may contribute to neck and shoulder pain.
The prolonged uses of mobile phones and computers have led to a variety of musculoskeletal disorders, especially related to the neck as: Forward Head Posture (FHP), rounded shoulders (RS), upper cross syndrome, mechanical neck pain etc. FHP is one in which the upper cervical convexity is increased and the lower cervical convexity is decreased causing anterior weight bearing of the cervical spine. It is also known as Scholar's neck or Reading neck.
Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) has been used as a complementary training method, applied either locally or to the whole body. It activates muscles artificially through various electrical current forms, which are delivered through electrodes on the target muscles.
Interferential current (IFC) is an established therapy which is used to treat pain and also effective for providing relaxation of muscles. The application of IFC at the medium frequency which suggests higher penetration of the electrical stimulation in the tissue by reducing tissue impedance
- Conditions
- Forward Head Posture, Rounded Shoulder Posture
- Being tested
- electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna), physical therapy program
- Keywords
- electrical stimulation, interferential current, adolescence
What participants receive
What participants receive. In a randomised study each person is assigned to one group by chance.
electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna)Device
muscle stimulant device
physical therapy programOther
neck exercises
| Study group | Role | What they receive |
|---|---|---|
| intervention group | Active comparator | study group (interferential current ) Receives: Device: electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna); Other: physical therapy program |
| physical therapy exercises group | Placebo comparator | control group (exercise group) Receives: Other: physical therapy program |
What is being measured
The primary outcome is the main question the study is designed to answer.
shoulder angle (SA)
To measure Shoulder Angle (SA) of rounded shoulder, a line from anterolateral aspect of acromion to C7 will be taken and a horizontal line from anterolateral aspect of acromion , it will be considered as forward shoulder when the angle is 52 degree or less.
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
craniovertebral angle (CVA)
To measure Craniovertebral Angle (CVA) of forward head posture, a line from C7 to tragus of the ear will be taken and a horizontal line from C7 (the normal CVA more than 50 degree).
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
head tilt angle (HTA)
To measure head tilt angle (HTA) or cranial angle (CA) the angle of the line between the canthus of the eye and horizontal line from the tragus, the head tilt angles is 17.74 ± 4.9 degrees in people with normal head posture.
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
head position angle (HPA)
To measure head position angle (HPA) angle between the tragus manubrium line and the line extending from the center point of chin to the tragus, the angle is 38.1 ± 4.9 degrees in people with normal head posture.
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Secondary outcomes (3)
Pain sensation
pain will be measured by visual analogue scale (VAS) , it is a numeric scale where 0 means no pain and 10 mean maximum pain.
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
cervical range of motion
cervical rang of motion will be measured by goniometer, where the normal angles for each movement are Flexion 60 degree , Hyperextension 75 degree, Lateral Flexion 45 degree, Rotation 80 degree.
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
neck muscles strength
neck muscles strength will be measured by hand held dynamometer, strength is measured in units of force per unit area. The unit is kilogram (force) per square cm (kg/cm^2)
Measured: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Timeline
From the start of the study to its completion; the mark is today. Estimated dates are the sponsor’s plan.
- First posted24 Dec 2024
- Study startJan 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completionApr 2025 (estimated)
- Study completionMay 2025 (estimated)
Resources
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govThe registry entry this page is built from, with its full change history.
- Publications (2)Papers the sponsor has linked to this study.
- Other trials for Forward Head PostureStudies of the same condition, open and under way.
- More trials run by Cairo UniversityThe sponsor's other registered studies.
- What the trial phases meanHow a treatment moves from first tests in people to approval.
More details
For doctors and researchers: how the study is designed, who runs it, and its registry IDs.
Study design
- Study type
- Interventional
- Phase
- Phase N/A
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind
- Who is masked
- Participant
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
Sponsor and investigators
- Lead sponsor
- Cairo University
- Sponsor type
- University, hospital or other
- Responsible party
- Principal investigator, yosra mostafa mohamed ali, Cairo University
- Investigators
- asmaa O SAYED, Study director, Cairo University
IDs, dates and publications
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06745960
- Sponsor's protocol ID
- forward head posture
- Other IDs
- P.T.REC/012/005173
- Status last verified
- Dec 2024
- First submitted
- 9 Dec 2024
- Last updated
- 24 Dec 2024
- Results posted
- No
- Data monitoring committee
- Yes
- FDA-regulated drug
- No
- FDA-regulated device
- No
- Individual data sharing
- No
Publications
Elgendy MH, Ghaffar MAA, Sabbahi SAE, Abutaleb EES, Elsayed SEB. Efficacy of head postural correction program on craniovertebral angle, scapular position, and dominant hand grip strength in forward head posture subjects: A randomized controlled trial. Physiother Res Int. 2024 Jul;29(3):e2093. doi: 10.1002/pri.2093.
PubMed 38780139Titcomb DA, Melton BF, Miyashita T, Bland HW. Evidence-Based Corrective Exercise Intervention for Forward Head Posture in Adolescents and Young Adults Without Musculoskeletal Pathology: A Critically Appraised Topic. J Sport Rehabil. 2022 Feb 16;31(5):640-644. doi: 10.1123/jsr.2021-0381. Print 2022 Jul 1.
PubMed 35172275
Study at a glance
From the registry record, last updated by the sponsor on 24 Dec 2024. Recruitment status is as the sponsor reported it: confirm with the study team.
- Official title
- Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Painful Forward Head and Protracted Shoulder Posture in Adolescents
- ClinicalTrials.gov ID
- NCT06745960
- Acronym / sponsor ID
- forward head posture
- Conditions
- Forward Head Posture, Rounded Shoulder Posture
- Keywords
- electrical stimulation, interferential current, adolescence
- Study type
- Interventional
- Recruitment status
- Not yet recruiting
- Enrolment
- 40 participants (estimated)
- Lead sponsor
- Cairo UniversityUniversity, hospital or other
- Study start
- Jan 2025 (estimated)
- Primary completion
- Apr 2025 (estimated)
- Study completion
- May 2025 (estimated)
- First posted
- 24 Dec 2024 (actual)
- Results
- Not posted in the source record
Clinical summary
The research question as the sponsor registered it. This describes what the study plans to test, not what it found.
The study aims are:
- To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation (interferential current) on forward head posture and protracted shoulder in adolescents.
- To investigate the effect of electrical stimulation on cervical pain, cervical ROM, neck muscle strength, and quality of life in adolescents with forward head posture and protracted shoulder.
Detailed description
Forward head posture (FHP) is commonly defined as the protrusion of the head in the sagittal plane so that the head is placed anterior to the trunk. It can occur because of anterior translation of the head, and it is claimed to be associated with an increase in upper cervical extension, lower cervical flexion, or both.
Patients with FHP often experience neck pain and disability, it is associated with shortening of the upper trapezius, the posterior cervical extensor muscles, the sternocleidomastoid muscle, and levator scapulae muscle. Thus, FHP may contribute to neck and shoulder pain.
The prolonged uses of mobile phones and computers have led to a variety of musculoskeletal disorders, especially related to the neck as: Forward Head Posture (FHP), rounded shoulders (RS), upper cross syndrome, mechanical neck pain etc. FHP is one in which the upper cervical convexity is increased and the lower cervical convexity is decreased causing anterior weight bearing of the cervical spine. It is also known as Scholar's neck or Reading neck.
Electrical muscle stimulation (EMS) has been used as a complementary training method, applied either locally or to the whole body. It activates muscles artificially through various electrical current forms, which are delivered through electrodes on the target muscles.
Interferential current (IFC) is an established therapy which is used to treat pain and also effective for providing relaxation of muscles. The application of IFC at the medium frequency which suggests higher penetration of the electrical stimulation in the tissue by reducing tissue impedance
Study design
- Primary purpose
- Treatment
- Allocation
- Randomised
- Intervention model
- Parallel groups
- Masking
- Single blind (participant)
- Number of arms
- 2
| Arm | Type | Receives |
|---|---|---|
| intervention group | Active comparator | Device: electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna), Other: physical therapy programstudy group (interferential current ) |
| physical therapy exercises group | Placebo comparator | Other: physical therapy programcontrol group (exercise group) |
Who may qualify
- Ages
- 15 to 18 years
- Sex
- Female only
- Healthy volunteers
- Not accepted
- Age groups
- Child, Adult
Key inclusion criteria (5 listed)
- Girls aged between (15-18) years old.
- Normal weight with BMI ranging from (16-25).
- Adolescents with mild and moderate forward head posture(FHP).
- Adolescents with mild and moderate neck pain.
- Adolescents with protracted shoulder.
Key exclusion criteria (7 listed)
- Cervical disc.
- Previous Shoulder trauma within last 6months.
- Shoulder surgery.
- Cervical fracture.
- Congenital posture deformity.
Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening; this overview does not establish that a patient qualifies. Full inclusion and exclusion criteria.
Interventions
| Intervention | Type | Arms |
|---|---|---|
| electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna)muscle stimulant device | Device | intervention group |
| physical therapy programneck exercises | Other | intervention group, physical therapy exercises group |
Primary outcome
shoulder angle (SA)
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
To measure Shoulder Angle (SA) of rounded shoulder, a line from anterolateral aspect of acromion to C7 will be taken and a horizontal line from anterolateral aspect of acromion , it will be considered as forward shoulder when the angle is 52 degree or less.
craniovertebral angle (CVA)
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
To measure Craniovertebral Angle (CVA) of forward head posture, a line from C7 to tragus of the ear will be taken and a horizontal line from C7 (the normal CVA more than 50 degree).
head tilt angle (HTA)
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
To measure head tilt angle (HTA) or cranial angle (CA) the angle of the line between the canthus of the eye and horizontal line from the tragus, the head tilt angles is 17.74 ± 4.9 degrees in people with normal head posture.
head position angle (HPA)
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
To measure head position angle (HPA) angle between the tragus manubrium line and the line extending from the center point of chin to the tragus, the angle is 38.1 ± 4.9 degrees in people with normal head posture.
3 secondary outcomes
Pain sensation
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
cervical range of motion
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
neck muscles strength
Time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks
Results and safety
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
Research links
- Official record on ClinicalTrials.govLast updated by the sponsor 24 Dec 2024.
- Background: PubMed 38780139Elgendy MH, Ghaffar MAA, Sabbahi SAE, Abutaleb EES, Elsayed SEB. Efficacy of head postural correction program on craniovertebral angle, scapular position, and dominant hand grip strength in forward head posture subjects: A randomized controlled trial. Physiother Res Int. 2024 Jul;29(3):e2093. doi: 10.1002/pri.2093.
- Background: PubMed 35172275Titcomb DA, Melton BF, Miyashita T, Bland HW. Evidence-Based Corrective Exercise Intervention for Forward Head Posture in Adolescents and Young Adults Without Musculoskeletal Pathology: A Critically Appraised Topic. J Sport Rehabil. 2022 Feb 16;31(5):640-644. doi: 10.1123/jsr.2021-0381. Print 2022 Jul 1.
- effect of electrical muscle stimulationLink provided by the sponsor.
- image of angles needed to be measured in this studyLink provided by the sponsor.
- Individual participant dataSharing planned: No
Related trials for Forward Head Posture
Not yet recruiting
Digital Use, 24-Hour Movement Behaviors, and Myofascial Release in University Students With Neck Pain
Forward Head Posture, Chronic Nonspecific Neck Pain
Not yet recruitingObservational study
Correlation Between Forward Head Posture and Executive Functions in Cervical Radiculopathy
Cervical Radiculopathy, Forward Head Posture
Not yet recruiting
Effect of Excercises on Pain , Disability and Craniovertebral Angle in Patients With Forward Head Posture.
Farward Head Posture
RecruitingObservational study
The Association Between Smartphone Overuse and Mechanical Neck Pain Among Galala University Students
Mechanical Neck Pain, Forward Head Posture (FHP)
Not yet recruitingObservational study
Relationship of Forward Head Posture With Burnout and Quality of Life
Forward Head Posture
Referral and contact
AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals. Contact the study team or a site listed below; they decide who can take part.
asmaa O SAYED study director
Cairo University
1 site in 1 country: see every site and its status.
Questions about this trial
What is this clinical trial studying?
A study testing electrical muscle stimulation device (EMS gymna) and physical therapy program in people with Forward Head Posture and Rounded Shoulder Posture, run by Cairo University at 1 site in Egypt.
The full registered description is in the About this study section and the official record.
Who may be eligible to take part?
The sponsor lists 5 inclusion and 7 exclusion criteria. Eligibility is decided by the study team after screening, so read the full criteria and contact a listed site.
Is this clinical trial currently recruiting?
The record says: opening soon, as of the sponsor's last update on 24 Dec 2024. Status can change between updates, so confirm with the study contact before making plans.
Where is the study taking place?
The record lists 1 site in Egypt. Whether a site is taking part right now should be confirmed with that site. See every site.
What are the possible benefits and risks?
They depend on the study and the treatment, and no study can promise a benefit. Some participants in this study may receive a placebo. The study team explains the known risks during informed consent, before anyone joins; the record itself does not list them.
Are results available for this study?
This study is still under way. Results are not available in the source record yet.
How can a doctor refer a patient or contact the research team?
Contact yosra MM Ali (+201013697310 ext. +201285604994, yosra.mostafa27@gmail.com), or a site near the patient. AzTrials does not enrol participants or take referrals.
What does the primary outcome measure?
shoulder angle (SA) (time frame: From enrollment to the end of treatment at 8 weeks). The study lists 4 primary outcomes in all. It is what the study was designed to measure, not a finding.
Where can I read the original study information?
On the ClinicalTrials.gov record for NCT06745960, which also lists 2 linked publications.
Does a listing mean the treatment is approved or proven to work?
No. A listing means the study is registered. It does not show that the treatment is safe, works, or is approved by a regulator.
How often is this information updated?
AzTrials copies changed records from ClinicalTrials.gov every night and reloads the whole registry every week. The sponsor last updated this record on 24 Dec 2024.