Change in a clinical measure of cervical movement sense following four weeks of kinematic training.

BACKGROUND

Training targeted towards improving cervical movement accuracy is an effective strategy in the management of neck pain. Relatively complex measures have been validated to measure this in research although a simple clinical measure using a head mounted laser tracing a standardised pattern has been shown to be reliable. It is not known if this method demonstrate clinically meaningful change to training.

OBJECTIVE

To assess change responsiveness of the clinical cervical movement sense (CCMS) test following home kinematic training (KT).

STUDY DESIGN

Pre-post treatment observational study.

METHODS

The CCMS measure was assessed in 56 patients with chronic neck pain (41 intervention, 15 control) at baseline and 4 weeks post intervention by blinded assessors. Task completion time and error number were assessed reviewing video of the performances. Change pre-post intervention was compared between groups.

RESULTS

There was a significantly greater mean improvement in the intervention (-9.2 ± 9.3) seconds) for completion time and combined time and error (-13.3 ± 16) compared to the control group for time (-2.0 ± 9.8) and combined time and error (-1.8 ± 14) with moderate to high effect sizes (Cohen's d 0.76). There was a non-significant trend for decreased number of errors in the intervention (-4.1 ± 9.0) compared to control group (0.2 ± 8.3).

CONCLUSION

Completion time of the CCMS test appears to be able to demonstrate meaningful change following four weeks of KT. This further supports its clinical utility as a measure of cervical movement accuracy and provides direction for future clinical use.