Abstract
M. Tech.
OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to compare the effect of cervical spine Chiropractic Adjustive Therapy (CAT), detuned ultrasound and ergonomic training on the typing accuracy of adolescents. By improving range of motion of the cervical spine, function of cervical spinal segmental units and education in ergonomics, it could allow for improved upper limb proprioception and thus improved accuracy while typing. DESIGN: Forty five subjects from Marian College, aged between 16 years and 19 years old, agreed to take part in the study. Participants were allocated to one of three groups. Two of these groups were experimental groups, one was a control group. In Group 1, participants were treated over 3 weeks with CMT of restricted segments of the cervical spine, as was determined by motion palpation of the cervical spine. Participants in Group 2 were assessed for restrictions of the cervical spine, as determined by motion palpation, and detuned ultrasound was administered as a placebo. This was the control group. In Group 3, participants were issued with an ergonomically designed computer program which was installed into their personal computers and ran for the same duration as what treatment was administered i.e. 3 weeks. MEASUREMENTS: Participants were asked to copy a document, provided by the school, once before treatment and once after treatment. Using a computer program designed by physiotherapist David Meyerowitz, ‘Ergocore’ calculated the number of errors made by each participant by counting the amount of times the participants struck the ‘delete’ and ‘backspace’ keys on the keyboard. Further subjective measurements that were taken were the participants’ opinions on personal fatigue, performance and concentration levels. These too, were obtained once before and once after treatment was administered. CONCLUSION: Patients in Group 1(Adjusting Group) made fewer errors than those of Group 2 (Detuned Ultrasound/Control Group) and Group 3 (Ergocore Group). The improvement of key-strike errors obtained post – treatment however, were not large enough to warrant statistical significance. The results of this study ‘show’ a trend toward the benefit of cervical spine CAT to key-strike accuracy, and further investigation would not only be possible, but also beneficial to the profession as well as to the adolescent community to not only prevent potential damage to a developing spine, but also to improve performance in an occupational setting.