Galley Proof 7/09/2017; 9:36 File: bmr–1-bmr169630.tex; BOKCTP/xhs p. 1 Journal of Back and Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation -1 (2017) 1–7 1 DOI 10.3233/BMR-169630 IOS Press Influence of chronic neck pain on cervical joint position error (JPE): Comparison between young and elderly subjects Khalid A. Alahmari * , Ravi Shankar Reddy, Paul Silvian, Irshad Ahmad, Venkat Nagaraj and Mohammad Mahtab Department of Physical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Abstract. BACKGROUND: Evaluation of cervical joint position sense in subjects with chronic neck pain has gained importance in recent times. Different authors have established increased joint position error (JPE) in subjects with acute neck pain. However, there is a paucity of studies to establish the influence of chronic neck pain on cervical JPE. OBJECTIVE: The objective of the study was to understand the influence of chronic neck pain on cervical JPE, and to examine the differences in cervical JPE between young and elderly subjects with chronic neck pain. METHODS: Forty-two chronic neck pain patients (mean age 47.4) were compared for cervical JPE with 42 age-matched healthy subjects (mean age 47.8), using a digital inclinometer. The cervical JPE were measured in flexion, extension, and rotation in right and left movement directions. RESULTS: The comparison of JPE showed significantly larger errors in subjects with chronic neck pain when compared to healthy subjects (p< 0.001). The errors were larger in all of the movement directions tested. Comparison between young and older subjects with chronic neck pain revealed no significant differences (P> 0.05) in cervical JPE. CONCLUSIONS: Cervical joint position sense is impaired in subjects with chronic neck pain. Keywords: Age, neck proprioception, neck pain 1. Introduction 1 Neck pain is a common complaint reported to affect 2 approximately 33% of the population each year [1]. 3 The reported prevalence varies widely with geographi- 4 cal area, age, and gender [1]. A review by Childs et al. 5 reported that most studies have found a higher preva- 6 lence of neck pain among women than men, with life- 7 time prevalence ranging from 14% to 71% [2]. The dis- 8 ability level among people with neck pain also varies, 9 with most experiencing low levels, and approximately 10 * Corresponding author: Khalid A. Alahmari, Department of Phys- ical Therapy, College of Applied Medical Sciences, King Khalid University, Abha, Saudi Arabia. Tel.: +966 546330862; E-mail: alahmarirt@gmail.com. 5% being sufficiently disabled and losing time from 11 work each year [3]. The term proprioception was first 12 used by Sherrington to describe deep receptors acti- 13 vated by the body’s own action and describes the abil- 14 ity to sense position and movement of one’s own limbs 15 and body [4]. Proprioception can be divided into two 16 sub modalities: the sense of stationary position and the 17 sense of movement (kinesthesia) [5]. 18 It is established that cervical spine position sense is 19 more likely to be impaired in subjects with neck pain, 20 and that the restoration of position sense would be one 21 essential aim during any rehabilitation [6,7]. Differ- 22 ent authors have made attempts to objectively measure 23 and quantify impaired position sense in subjects with 24 neck pain, along with the changes in the cervical range 25 of motion and strength [8–11]. The resulting query is 26 ISSN 1053-8127/17/$35.00 c  2017 – IOS Press and the authors. All rights reserved corrected proof version