Cervical movement sense test using laser pointer and automatic video image analysis in persons with neck pain: an observational cross-sectional study
2019 (English)Independent thesis Advanced level (degree of Master (Two Years)), 80 credits / 120 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
Background Neck pain is a common condition and stand for a large part of the health care cost. Neck pain is often associated with sensorimotor dysfunctions, such as impaired proprioception. An important part of the proprioception is the movement sense. This study investigates cervical movement sense among individuals with and without persistent neck pain. The test involves a tracking task using a laser pointer fixed on the head and an automatic scoring system.
Study Design Cross-sectional study
Purpose The aim of this study was to investigate cervical movement sense among individuals with neck pain (NP) compared to healthy controls (CON). Another aim was to investigate if the test performance correlate with self-rated pain, pain on movement and neck disability.
MethodSixty participants, 30 NP and 30 CON, performed a tracking task of a zig-zag pattern in four different directions with a laser pointer attached to their head as accurately as possible. Each trial was video recorded and analyzed with a specifically tailored image processing pipeline for automatic quantification of the test. The four main outcome variables were Acuity, Velocity, Numberof times off the target line (NumberError) andfinally time to complete the test (Movetime).
Results: The NP group show a significantly higher number off errors compared to CON in Down to Up (p=0.040) and with a tendency also for Up to Down direction (p=0.051). NP group show significantly greater movement time compared to CON in Right to Left (p=0.046), Down to Up (p=0.035) and Up to Down (p=0.017) directions. Within the NP group, significant positive correlations are seen between total Pain on movement Questionnaire(POM) and the mean of NumberError (rho=0.431,p=0.018) mean of Movetime (rho=0.414, p=0.023). Significant correlations are also seen between average pain NRS (7 days) and mean of NumberError (rho=0.405, p=0.026) and mean of Movetime (rho=0.469,p=0.009).
Conclusion: Differences in performance regarding NumberErrors and Movetime were seen between NP and CON. This study indicates that this specific test involving a tracking task of zig-zag pattern with a laser pointer and automatic scoring of acuity from video recordings may be a valid test for assessment of movement sense of the neck. We suggest that further knowledge about this test is needed when the speed-accuracy trade off is accounted for.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2019. , p. 41
Keywords [en]
neck pain, movement sense, proprioception
National Category
Physiotherapy
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-74846OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-74846DiVA, id: diva2:1328520
Subject / course
Student thesis, at least 30 credits
Educational program
Physiotherapy, master's level (120 credits)
Supervisors
Examiners
2019-06-242019-06-212019-06-24Bibliographically approved