Table 5.

Study characteristics. Specific stretch vs. general stretch.

Reference	Characteristics of Participants	Specific Intervention (SI)	Non-Specific Intervention (NSI) + Reference Intervention (REF)	Outcome Measures / Follow-Up Period	Main Results
Cunha et al. [27]	♀ (35–60 y) with chronic neck pain lasting ≥ 3 m n = 33 ♀ (end 31 ♀) SI group n = 17 (end 16) 48.7 ± 7.3 y NSI group n = 16 (end 15) 44.4 ± 7.8 y	Static neck-shoulder stretching ex - 60′ × 2/w for 6 w - 30′ manual therapy and breathing ex + 30′ conventional auto-passive stretching - 2 × 30″/ex	Global posture reeducation stretching - 60′ × 2/w for 6 w - 30′ manual therapy and breathing ex + 30′ supervised muscle chain stretching - 2 postures: posterior and anterior chains (15′/posture)	Pain: - Pain intensity (VAS) SF36-BP (bodily pain items)     ̴ baseline     ̴ post-intervention (6 w)     ̴ 6 w follow-up	Short-term effects (post-intervention): VAS: - ↓ SI and NSI - ΔSI = ΔNSI SF36-BP: - ↑ SI and NSI - ΔSI = ΔNSI Long-term effects (follow-up): VAS: - ↓ SI and NSI - ΔSI = ΔNSI SF36-BP: - ↑ SI and NSI - ΔSI = ΔNSI

Abbreviations: ′, minute/s; ″, second/s; ↑, increased/higher; ↓, decreased/lower; =, no change; ♀, female subjects; EX, exercise; M, month/s; n, number of subjects; NSI, Non-specific intervention; REF, reference group; SI, specific intervention; VAS, visual analogical scale; W, week/s; Y, year/s.