Comparison of Dry Needling versus Orthopedic Manual Therapy in Patients with Myofascial Chronic Neck Pain: A Single-Blind, Randomized Pilot Study

Table 5

Nonparametric tests of outcome data of cervical ROM (flexion and extension).

Variable	Groups	Median (interquartile range) Range of motion (ROM) in grades				Friedman; ANOVA	Wilcoxon; (a) Base versus post 1; (b) Base versus post 2; (c) Base versus follow-up
		Baseline	Post; 1	Post; 2	Follow-; up
Flexion	DN-S	38.7 (35.6–40)	40 (30.2–49.37)	41.2 (37–46.9)	45 (40–49.4)	0.085	(a) 0.448; (b) 0.079; (c) 0.009
	STT	40.0 (30.6–49.4)	46.2 (35–58.1)	50 (32.2–56.9)	40.5 (32.5–50)	0.692	(a) 0.325; (b) 0.108; (c) 0.674
	OMT	40.0 (31.5–47.5)	45.7 (35–55)	50 (50–55)	52.5 (47.5–60)	0.017	(a) 0.031; (b) 0.007; (c) 0.008
	K-W	0.804	0.626	0.070	0.036
	Mann-Whitney test
	DN-S versus STT; DN-S versus OMT; STT versus OMT	0.557; 0.883; 0.597	0.467; 0.369; 0.816	0.338; 0.009; 0.517	0.622; 0.014; 0.046
Extension	DN-S	46.25 (33.7–51)	50.7 (40–59.4)	50 (40.2–59.7)	50 (41.7–60)	0.193	(a) 0.169; (b) 0.154; (c) 0.054
	STT	42.5 (27.5–60)	41.2 (30.6–50)	45 (40–58.7)	50 (45.6–50.7)	0.633	(a) 0.580; (b) 0.635; (c) 0.422
	OMT	48.75 (40–70)	50 (40–75)	62.5 (50–65)	60 (57.5–63.7)	0.846	(a) 0.526; (b) 0.477; (c) 0.074
	K-W	0.491	0.332	0.080	0.005
	Mann-Whitney test
	DN-S versus STT; DN-S versus OMT; STT versus OMT	0.794; 0.257; 0.381	0.210; 0.816; 0.195	0.839; 0.044; 0.062	0.726; 0.022; 0.001

DN-S = dry needling + stretching, STT = soft tissue techniques, and OMT = orthopedic manual therapy.
K-W = Kruskal-Wallis test.