Neck pain is a frequent health problem. Manual therapy (MT) and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) are recommended techniques for treatment of mechanical neck disorders (MND) in Spanish Public Primary Care Physiotherapy Services. The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of MT versus TENS in active mobility and endurance in cervical subacute or chronic neck pain. Ninety patients with MND were randomly allocated to receive ten 30-min sessions of either MT or TENS, in a multi-centered study through 12 Primary Care Physiotherapy Units in the Madrid community. Active cervical range of motion (CD-ROM) and endurance (Palmer and Epler test) were evaluated pre- and post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up. A generalized linear model of repeated measures was constructed for the analysis of differences. Post-intervention MT yielded a significant improvement in active mobility and endurance in patients with subacute or chronic MND, and at 6-month follow-up the differences were only significant in endurance and in sagittal plane active mobility. In the TENS group, no significant improvement was detected. With regard to other variables, MT improved mobility and endurance more effectively than TENS at post-intervention and at 6-month follow-up in the sagittal plane. Only MT generated significant improvements in cervical mobility and endurance in the three movement planes.
Keywords: musculoskeletal manipulation; neck pain; physical therapy modalities; public health; transcutaneous electric nerve stimulation (TENS).