Effects of home exercise program on endurance, disability and daily participation in non-specific neck pain

Does a four-week home exercise program improve neck muscle endurance, disability, and life participation in people with non-specific neck pain?

65 people with non-specific neck pain; setting not reported

Randomized controlled trial — what this means: 4-week home exercise program vs. an educational booklet on neck health; outcomes included cervical flexion — what this means/extension — what this means/deep flexion endurance tests, VAS pain, Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire, and Keele Participation Assessment

• The only statistically significant — what this means between-group difference after treatment was on the Northwick Park Neck Pain Questionnaire (p = 0.005), favoring the exercise group
• No significant between-group differences were reported for endurance tests, pain, or participation
• Within the exercise group, the authors describe improvements in endurance, disability, and participation, but effect sizes — what this means and specific values were not reported

A short home exercise program may yield modest disability improvement in non-specific neck pain, though the lack of reported effect sizes — what this means and absence of between-group differences on endurance, pain, and participation limits how strongly the findings can be interpreted.