EffECt of gLobAL poSturE rEEduCAtIoN ANd of StAtIC StrEtChINg oN pAIN, rANgE of motIoN, ANd quALIty of LIfE IN womEN wIth ChroNIC NECk pAIN: A rANdomIzEd CLINICAL trIAL

range of motion, and quality of life in women with chronic neck pain: a random clinical trial. Clinics. 2008;63:763-70. PURPOSE: Compare the effect of conventional static stretching and muscle chain stretching, as proposed by the global posture reeducation method, in the manual therapy of patients with chronic neck pain. METHODS: Thirty-three female patients aged 35 to 60 years old, 31 of whom completed the program, were randomly divided into two groups: The global posture reeducation group (n=15) performed muscle chain stretching, while the conventional stretching group (n=16) performed conventional static muscle stretching. Both groups also underwent manual therapy. Patients were evaluated before and after treatment and at a six-week follow-up appointment and tested for pain intensity (by means of visual analog scale), range of motion (by goniometry), and health-related quality of life (by the SF-36 questionnaire). The treatment program consisted of two 1-hour individual sessions per week for six weeks. Data were statistically analyzed at a significance level of p<0.05. RESULTS: Significant pain relief and range of motion improvement were observed after treatment in both groups, with a slight reduction at follow-up time. Quality of life also improved after treatment, except for the global posture reeducation group in one domain; at follow-up, there was improvement in all domains, except that both groups reported increased pain. There were no significant differences between groups CONCLUSION: Conventional stretching and muscle chain stretching in association with manual therapy were equally effective i