People With Chronic Neck Pain Walk With a Stiffer Spine

• DOI: 10.2519/jospt.2017.6768
• Publication Date: 2017-02-04T07:37:51Z
• Authors: Deborah Falla; Leonardo Gizzi; Hesam Parsa; Angela Dieterich; Frank Petzke
• Keywords: Neck pain

Study Design Controlled laboratory study, case-control design. Objective To evaluate spine kinematics and gait characteristics in people with nonspecific chronic neck pain. Background People pain present a number of sensorimotor biomechanical alterations, yet little is known about the influence on motions during gait. Methods age- sex-matched asymptomatic controls walked treadmill at 3 different speeds (self-selected, km/h, 5 km/h), either their head neutral position or rotated 30°. Tridimensional motion capture was employed to quantify body kinematics. Neck trunk rotations were derived from difference between transverse plane component thorax pelvis angles provide an indication rotation Results Overall, patient group showed shorter stride length compared control (P<.001). Moreover, patients smaller (P<.001), regardless condition speed. The amount groups became larger for conditions walking rotated. Conclusion walk reduced rotation, especially when challenged by positioned rotation. Reduced may have long-term consequences spinal health. J Orthop Sports Phys Ther 2017;47(4):268-277. Epub Feb 2017. doi:10.2519/jospt.2017.6768.