The Effect of a Rehabilitation Exercise Program on Head Repositioning Accuracy and Reported Levels of Pain in Chronic Neck Pain Subjects

Abstract

AbstractObjectives. Currently, there is limited research on the effectiveness of rehabilitative exercises for neck pain patients generally, and chronic neck pain patients in particular. Interestingly, recent evidence suggests that dysfunction of cervicocephalic kinesthesia, as measured by head repositioning accuracy (HRA), is present in many chronic patients, and that active eye-head-neck, co-ordination exercises, may be useful in terms of patients' rehabilitation.The purpose of this study was twofold: i. to determine if there was a difference in HRA in chronic neck pain subjects versus controls; ii. to assess the effect of a rehabilitative exercise program on chronic neck pain subjects' HRA and reported levels of pain.Method A prospective, intervention study on a convenience sample of chronic neck pain subjects (> 3 months duration) versus age and gender matched, asymptomatic control subjects was conducted. Exclusion criteria included any form of active treatment (> 1 per month) for musculoskeletal compl...