Neck pain and postural balance among workers with high postural demands - a cross-sectional study

Marie B Jørgensen,Andreas Holtermann,Jørgen H Skotte,Gisela Sjøgaard,Karen Søgaard,Nicolas C Petersen

doi:10.1186/1471-2474-12-176

Abstract

BackgroundNeck pain is related to impaired postural balance among patients and is highly prevalent among workers with high postural demands, for example, cleaners. We therefore hypothesised, that cleaners with neck pain suffer from postural dysfunction. This cross-sectional study tested if cleaners with neck pain have an impaired postural balance compared with cleaners without neck pain.MethodsPostural balance of 194 cleaners with (n = 85) and without (N = 109) neck pain was studied using three different tests. Success or failure to maintain the standing position for 30 s in unilateral stance was recorded. Participants were asked to stand on a force platform for 30 s in the Romberg position with eyes open and closed. The centre of pressure of the sway was calculated, and separated into a slow (rambling) and fast (trembling) component. Subsequently, the 95% confidence ellipse area (CEA) was calculated. Furthermore a perturbation test was performed.ResultsMore cleaners with neck pain (81%) failed the unilateral stance compared with cleaners without neck pain (61%) (p < 0.01). However, the risk of failure in unilateral stance was statistically elevated in cleaners with concurrent neck/low back pain compared to cleaners without neck/low back pain (p < 0.01), whereas pain at only neck or only low back did not increase the risk. Impaired postural balance, measured as CEA (p < 0.01), rambling (p < 0.05) and trembling (p < 0.05) was observed among cleaners with neck pain in comparison with cleaners without neck pain in the Romberg position with eyes closed, but not with eyes open.ConclusionsPostural balance is impaired among cleaners with neck pain and the current study suggests a particular role of the slow component of postural sway. Furthermore, the unilateral stance test is a simple test to illustrate functional impairment among cleaners with concurrent neck and low back pain.Trial registrationISRCTN96241850

Highlights

Neck pain is related to impaired postural balance among patients and is highly prevalent among workers with high postural demands, for example, cleaners
Unilateral stance test Eighty-one percent of the cleaners with neck pain did not accomplish the unilateral stance test as opposed to the significantly lower proportion (61%) of the cleaners without neck pain (p = 0.003)
The main finding of this study was that cleaners with neck pain have an impaired postural balance compared with cleaners without neck pain

Summary

Introduction

Neck pain is related to impaired postural balance among patients and is highly prevalent among workers with high postural demands, for example, cleaners. That cleaners with neck pain suffer from postural dysfunction. Cleaning is a physically demanding job involving standing, walking and working in awkward postures [1]. According to several studies of patients, neck pain may underlie impaired postural balance [7,8,9,10,11]. Altered motor strategies during work tasks after acute, sub-acute and chronic pain have been reported [12]. Such studies have not been conducted on postural balance. This study tested if cleaners with neck pain are characterised by postural impairments

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Discussion

Conclusion