Assessing the measurement characteristics of cervical joint repositioning error in individuals with and without forward head posture

Abstract

Background: The current study aimed to examine the joint repositioning error (JRE) in three groups of Forward head posture (FHP) with chronic neck pain (CNP), FHP without CNP, and a healthy control.

Method: This cross-sectional study involved 30 participants from each group, selected via convenience sampling. Neck pain intensity was quantified using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), neck function was examined using the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and FHP was estimated by measuring the craniovertebral angle. The primary outcome measures were the absolute error (AE) and constant error (CE) of joint repositioning during different cervical movements, evaluated using a laser pointer.

Results: ANOVA results showed that the AE of joint repositioning during right and left neck rotation and lateral bending, along with CE in all neck movements except for left rotation (P = 0.235), was significantly greater in FHP group with CNP compared to the healthy group (P < 0.05). The one-sample t-test showed a significant overshoot for flexion (P = 0.02), extension (P = 0.01) and right rotation (P = 0.03) repositioning (P = 0.06) in the FHP with CNP group and for right rotation repositioning (P = 0.009) in the FHP without CNP group. Also, a significant overshoot tendency for right (P = 0.01) and left (P = 0.002) lateral flexion was observed in the asymptomatic group.

Conclusions: The research found that the AE and CE of joint repositioning were higher in the FHP group with CNP compared to the healthy group. Furthermore, there was no significant strong correlation between VAS and NDI with the indices of JRE across different cervical movements.

Keywords: Forward head posture; Neck muscles; Neck pain; Postural malalignment; Proprioception.