Abstract
BackgroundNeck pain is a major public health problem. Our objective was to describe differences in measures of movement and posture between people with and without neck pain.MethodsPubMed and Embase were searched before 15 February 2019 for studies comparing people with neck pain with controls using electronic measurements of neck movement and/or posture. Data were extracted on participants, device, test methods, active range of motion (RoM) and quality of motion, joint positioning sense, and posture. Study quality was assessed using the quality assessment of studies of diagnostic accuracy included in systematic reviews (QUADAS) and Guidelines for Reporting Reliability and Agreement Studies (GRRAS) guidelines.ResultsThirty-six studies were included: 24 studies included measurement of active RoM, 15 quality of motion, 12 joint positioning sense, and 5 cervical spine posture. Measurements and test methods were heterogeneous. The reporting of study populations and methods were poor, whereas devices and statistics were well described. All studies on RoM showed reduced active RoM in people with neck pain when compared with controls, 5 of 10 studies reported reduced movement speed for people with neck pain, and 5 of 9 studies reported significantly greater joint positioning error for people with neck pain compared with controls. Due to heterogeneous test parameters and methods, no conclusion regarding differences in conjunct motion, tracking a motion pattern, and measures of posture could be drawn.ConclusionsPeople with neck pain appear to have reduced active RoM, movement speed, and head repositioning accuracy when compared with controls. However, quality of reviewed studies was low and better descriptions of participants and methods are required before firm conclusions can be drawn.
Highlights
Neck pain is a major public health problem
Study design This study was a systematic literature review based on criteria adapted from Cochrane diagnostic studies [37] and reported according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) guidelines [38] (Additional file 1)
Definition of chronicity varied from no specification [29], duration of pain longer than 6 weeks [44], to neck pain lasting more than 2 years [30]
Summary
Neck pain is a major public health problem. Neck pain is a common condition with a reported point prevalence of between 0.4 and 41.5% and a lifetime prevalence ranging from 14.2 to 71.0%, depending on its definition [1,2,3]. More than 300 definitions of neck pain have been used in the epidemiological literature [6,7,8,9,10,11,12]. In 2009, the Joint Decade 2000–2010 Task Force on neck pain introduced a conceptual model of neck pain, defining neck pain as pain or discomfort between the superior nuchal line and the spine of the scapula [6]. One way to potentially improve the effect of treatment could be
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