Impact of Various Pillow Types on Sleep Quality and Disability in Individuals with Cervical Spondylosis

A three-arm parallel randomized clinical trial was conducted to evaluate the effects of different pillows on sleep quality, disability and pain in patients with cervical spondylosis. Participants were divided into three intervention groups. Group 1 received a contoured cervical pillow along with conventional physiotherapy, Group 2 was provided with a novel cervical pillow and conventional physiotherapy, while Group 3 underwent conventional physiotherapy alone. The physiotherapy protocol included a moist heat pack, sub-occipital release, transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) and postural re-education exercises, with each session lasting 40 minutes, administered three time a week for four weeks.
Baseline and post-intervention assessments were conducted using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), Neck Disability Index (NDI), Numerical Pain Rating Scale (NPRS) and a Universal Goniometer to measure sleep quality, neck disability, pain, and cervical range of motion. The study findings revealed that participants in Group 2, who used novel cervical pillow alongside conventional physiotherapy, experienced significantly greater improvements in sleep quality, neck disability, and pain compared to those in Group 1 using the contoured cervical pillow and those in Group 3 who received physiotherapy alone. Although all groups showed positive outcomes across the assessed measures, the results suggest that the novel cervical pillow is the most effective choice for enhancing sleep quality, reducing disability, and alleviating pain.