Assessment of neuromuscular and psychological function in people with recurrent neck pain during a period of remission: cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses

Ahmed Alalawi, Valter Devecchi, Alessio Gallina, Alejandro Luque-Suarez, Deborah Falla

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Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine for the presence of differences in neuromuscular and psychological function in individuals with recurrent neck pain (RNP) or chronic neck pain (CNP) following a whiplash trauma compared to healthy controls. A secondary aim was to examine whether neuromuscular characteristics together with psychological features in people with RNP were predictive of future painful episodes. Multiple features were assessed including neck disability, kinesiophobia, quality of life, cervical kinematics, proprioception, activity of superficial neck flexor muscles, maximum neck flexion and extension strength, and perceived exertion during submaximal contractions. Overall, those with RNP (n = 22) and CNP (n = 8) presented with higher neck disability, greater kinesiophobia, lower quality of life, slower and irregular neck movements, and less neck strength compared to controls (n = 15). Prediction analysis in the RNP group revealed that a higher number of previous pain episodes within the last 12 months along with lower neck flexion strength were predictors of higher neck disability at a 6-month follow-up. This preliminary study shows that participants with RNP presented with some degree of altered neuromuscular features and poorer psychological function with respect to healthy controls and these features were similar to those with CNP. Neck flexor weakness was predictive of future neck disability.

Original languageEnglish
Article number2042
JournalJournal of Clinical Medicine
Volume11
Issue number7
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 6 Apr 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Funding: The authors would like to thank the Deanship of Scientific Research at Umm Al-Qura University for supporting this work by Grant Code: (22UQU4340384DSR01).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/).

Keywords

  • cervical kinematics
  • chronic neck pain
  • neuromuscular function
  • recurrent neck pain
  • whiplash

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Medicine

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