Kinematics of fast cervical rotations in persons with chronic neck pain: a cross-sectional and reliability study

BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

Research Article

Mats Djupsjöbacka¹  Martin Björklund²  Ulrik Röijezon³  Helena Grip⁴  Charlotte Häger-Ross⁵  Dario G Liebermann⁶ 

[1] Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gävle, Sweden;Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gävle, Sweden;Alfta Research Foundation, Alfta, Sweden;Centre for Musculoskeletal Research, University of Gävle, Sweden;Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy, Umeå University, Sweden;Alfta Research Foundation, Alfta, Sweden;Department of Biomedical Engineering & Informatics, University Hospital of Umeå, Umeå, Sweden;Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy, Umeå University, Sweden;Department of Community Medicine and Rehabilitation, Physiotherapy, Umeå University, Sweden;Department of Physical Therapy, Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Israel;

关键词: Neck Pain;    Neck Disability Index;    Chronic Neck Pain;    Peak Speed;    Cervical Rotation;   

DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2474-11-222

 received in 2010-03-01, accepted in 2010-09-27,  发布年份 2010

来源: Springer

【 摘 要 】

BackgroundAssessment of sensorimotor function is useful for classification and treatment evaluation of neck pain disorders. Several studies have investigated various aspects of cervical motor functions. Most of these have involved slow or self-paced movements, while few have investigated fast cervical movements. Moreover, the reliability of assessment of fast cervical axial rotation has, to our knowledge, not been evaluated before.MethodsCervical kinematics was assessed during fast axial head rotations in 118 women with chronic nonspecific neck pain (NS) and compared to 49 healthy controls (CON). The relationship between cervical kinematics and symptoms, self-rated functioning and fear of movement was evaluated in the NS group. A sub-sample of 16 NS and 16 CON was re-tested after one week to assess the reliability of kinematic variables. Six cervical kinematic variables were calculated: peak speed, range of movement, conjunct movements and three variables related to the shape of the speed profile.ResultsTogether, peak speed and conjunct movements had a sensitivity of 76% and a specificity of 78% in discriminating between NS and CON, of which the major part could be attributed to peak speed (NS: 226 ± 88 °/s and CON: 348 ± 92 °/s, p < 0.01). Peak speed was slower in NS compared to healthy controls and even slower in NS with comorbidity of low-back pain. Associations were found between reduced peak speed and self-rated difficulties with running, performing head movements, car driving, sleeping and pain. Peak speed showed reasonably high reliability, while the reliability for conjunct movements was poor.ConclusionsPeak speed of fast cervical axial rotations is reduced in people with chronic neck pain, and even further reduced in subjects with concomitant low back pain. Fast cervical rotation test seems to be a reliable and valid tool for assessment of neck pain disorders on group level, while a rather large between subject variation and overlap between groups calls for caution in the interpretation of individual assessments.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© Röijezon et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. 2010