Balance Performance in Patients with Whiplash Associated Disorders and Patients with Prolonged Musculoskeletal Disorders

Abstract

Balance impairments may be an underestimated problem in patients with neck disorders. The purpose of this study was to evaluate balance performance in two different patient groups - one with traumatic whiplash-associated disorders (WAD), 24 women and 11 men, and one with non-traumatic prolonged nonspecific musculoskeletal disorders (PMSD), 59 women and 11 men, and a group of healthy controls (C), 28 women and 18 men. For the groups combined the number of participants was 111 women and 40 men, 18-55 years of age. Nine different standardized static balance tests and one dynamic test were used for evaluation, and comparisons across groups were made. Overall significant differences were found in most of the tests between the patient groups and the control group. One test, standing on foam with head turns, was significant only between the WAD group and the control group, while another test, walking along a line without faulty steps, was significant only between the PMSD group and the control group. When the analyses were stratified for gender, these differences remained significant within women but not within men. In conclusion, the results indicate that it may be valuable to test balance performance in patients with neck disorders.

• Chronic Pain Clinical Balance Tests Neck Injury Neck Pain