Efficacy of a stretching exercise versus transcranial direct current stimulation(tDCS) on task performance, kinematic and electroencephalography (EEG) spectrum in subjects with slump posture: A study protocol

Abstract

Background Slumped sitting is a common poor posture which may cause mental fatigue and some disturbances in social activity. The management of slump posture often focuses on some biomechanical recommendations. To date, almost limited studies have explored the non-biomechanical factors such as the central component including mental fatigue of poor posture. Therefore, utilizing the quantitative electroencephalography (QEEG) to find out the changes after a prolonged repetitive task might be considered as a tool for tracking the central part in poor posture individuals. Accordingly, this study was designed to find out the differences of EEG parameters between normal and poor posture individuals; also, in the second step, to explore the effect of stretching exercises and tDCS to monitor the mentioned parameters during a continuous activity of typing in subjects with slump posture. Methods A sample of 60 volunteers will participate in this study and they will be assigned to two equal groups of people with normal and slump postures. In the first and last 3 minutes of 60 minutes of continuous typing, these people will be assessed for outcome measures of mental fatigue through QEEG and visual analog fatigue scale, the typing performances (i.e. speed and errors of typing), musculoskeletal discomfort and kinematic behavior of neck. Furthermore, the effects of stretching exercises and transcortical stimulation on the outcome measures in slump posture group will be evaluated. Discussion With the assumption of providing individuals' differences in terms of outcome measures in normal and slump posture and also by showing the possible changes of the measures, due to either tDCS as a central modality or stretching exercises as a peripheral modality; we might conclude that first, a central component is critical for evaluation in poor posture and second, may provide evidence to introduce the effective method to overcome mental fatigue and promote work productivity. Trial registration Registered on the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials on 21 September 2022, IRCT Identifier: IRCT20161026030516N2