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@article{207365,
        author = {VEDIKA ASHISH KARMARKAR and S ANANDH and SAKSHI JADHAV and TANVI BHUJBAL},
        title = {EFFECTIVENESS OF VISUAL–CERVICAL COORDINATION EXERCISE PROGRAMS FOR DIGITAL DEVICE USERS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW},
        journal = {International Journal of Innovative Research in Technology},
        year = {2026},
        volume = {13},
        number = {3},
        pages = {541-552},
        issn = {2349-6002},
        url = {https://ijirt.org/article?manuscript=207365},
        abstract = {Prolonged use of smartphones, tablets, and computers requires sustained near-vision fixation combined with a flexed, forward-translated head posture. Because the eyes, the vestibular apparatus, and the cervical spine share dense afferent connections and act as a single sensorimotor unit for gaze stabilization and head-on-trunk control, this visual-cervical coupling is thought to be disrupted by prolonged screen exposure, contributing to neck pain, forward head posture, impaired balance, and visual discomfort in digital device users. Physiotherapy programs that specifically retrain visual-cervical coordination — eye-follow, gaze stability, eye-head coordination, and cervical repositioning exercises — have been proposed as a targeted way to address this shared pathway, as distinct from general strengthening or stretching-based neck rehabilitation.
Objective: To systematically evaluate the effectiveness of physiotherapy interventions targeting visual-cervical coordination for pain, disability, sensorimotor, and balance outcomes in digital device users.
Methods: PubMed, Google Scholar, Scopus, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science were searched for studies published between 2015 and 2026 linking physiotherapy or a physiotherapy-adjacent intervention to visual-cervical coordination, oculomotor function, or cervical proprioception in digital device users. Randomized controlled trials were appraised with the Revised Cochrane Risk of Bias tool (RoB 2); cross-sectional studies were appraised with AXIS. Ten studies met the eligibility criteria: eight trials and two cross-sectional studies.
Results: Visual-cervical coordination programs — eye-cervical re-education, gaze-stability and eye-head coordination exercises, oculomotor training, and virtual-reality-based proprioceptive games — consistently improved neck pain, disability, cervical range of motion, pressure pain thresholds, cervical joint position sense, and postural/balance control in digital device users, generally matching or exceeding craniocervical flexor training and stretching-based comparators. The two cross-sectional studies confirmed that heavy digital device use is strongly associated with visual disorders, neck pain, and impaired static balance. Most trials were rated "some concerns" on RoB 2, primarily because blinding of participants was not feasible; the cross-sectional studies showed low risk of bias on AXIS, apart from sampling representativeness.
Conclusion: Physiotherapy that specifically trains visual-cervical coordination is an effective, low-risk approach to managing neck pain, sensorimotor deficits, and balance impairment in digital device users, and warrants inclusion as a targeted component of ergonomic and rehabilitation programs for this population.},
        keywords = {cervical proprioception, digital device users, eye-head coordination, gaze stability, oculomotor exercise, physiotherapy, text neck, visual-cervical coordination.},
        month = {August},
        }