A study of five cervicocephalic relocation tests in three different subject groups.
OBJECTIVE
To compare head relocation accuracy in traumatic (whiplash), insidious onset neck pain patients and asymptomatic subjects when targeting a natural head posture (NHP) and complex predetermined positions.


METHODS
A case-control study.


METHODS
University-based musculoskeletal research clinic.


METHODS
Sixty-three volunteers divided into three groups of similar gender and age: Group 1 (n = 21) an asymptomatic group; group 2 (n = 20) insidious onset neck pain; group 3 (n = 22) a history of whiplash injury.


METHODS
Five randomly ordered tests designed to detect relocation accuracy of the head.


METHODS
A 3-Space Fastrak system measured the mean absolute relocation error of three trials of each relocation test.


RESULTS
A significant difference was found between groups in one of the tests targeting the NHP (p = 0.001). Post-hoc pairwise comparisons revealed a significant difference (p < or = 0.05) between the asymptomatic group and each symptomatic group. The difference between the symptomatic groups just failed to reach significance (p = 0.07). None of the other four tests revealed significant differences.


CONCLUSIONS
The test of targeting the NHP indicates that relocation inaccuracy exists in patients with neck pain with a trend to suggest that the deficit may be greater in whiplash patients. Tests employing unfamiliar postures or more complex movement were not successful in differentiating subject groups.
Kristjansson
Eythor
E
Faculty of Medicine, The University of Iceland, Reykjavík, Iceland. eythork@simnet.is
Dall'Alba
Paul
P
Jull
Gwendolen
G
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D055590:Electromagnetic Phenomena; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck / Q000502:physiology*; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology*; D016059:Range of Motion, Articular / Q000502:physiology; D012399:Rotation; D012984:Software; D014911:Whiplash Injuries / Q000503:physiopathology*