Abstract:

Objective: In our study, it was aimed to evaluate the effects of posture and breathing exercises applied by individuals working at home-office on pain and quality of life. Material and Method: The research was carried out with 61 volunteer participants aged 20-50 years, working at home-office between January and March 2021. Demographic information of the participants was collected. Pain was evaluated using the Turkish version of the Cornell Musculoskeletal Disorders Questionnaire (CMDQ), while the SF-36 Quality of Life Questionnaire was used to evaluate the quality of life. Participants were randomly divided into exercise (n: 31) and control groups (n: 30). The exercise group was given a program consisting of posture and breathing exercises for 4 weeks (4 times a day, 5 days a week) and ambulation for 1 minute. The exercises in the program were explained using photos and videos. An exercise monitoring chart was prepared for the participants to control their programs. Control group did not have any exercises for four weeks. Results: There were 13 males and 18 females in the exercise group (mean age: 30.290±9.427 years), and 5 males and 25 females in the control group (mean age: 28.800±7.644 years). While there was a statistically significant difference between the groups for neck, waist, and left lower arm scores of CMDQ (p<0.050) after the program, there was no significant difference between the groups in SF-36 (p>0.050). The pre-post program analysis for the exercise group shows that there was a statistically significant difference in CMDQ scores for all the regions (p<0.050) except for the left upper arm, hip, left knee, right and left lower leg. In the SF-36, the differences in pain, role limitations due to physical health, role limitations due to emotional problems and perception of general health were statistically significant (p<0.050). Conclusion: In our study, it was determined that after the exercise-focused physiotherapy approaches, musculoskeletal pain symptoms decreased, and the quality of life of the home-office workers increased.

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