Magnitude, validity and responsiveness of dynamometer measured neck retraction strength in patients referred with neck pain to out-patient physical therapy.
Richard W Bohannon, Frank Tudini
PMID 36213195WHAT IT FOUND
Neck retraction strength measured with a handheld dynamometer increased significantly over physical therapy episodes, from 76.5 N to 119.5 N.
This measure tracked pain levels but not disability scores, suggesting it captures a specific motor deficit rather than overall function.
Key findings
01Neck retraction force increased significantly from 76.5 N at admission to 119.5 N at discharge.
02Baseline neck retraction strength correlated with pain scores but not with neck disability scores.
03The measure showed high responsiveness to change over the course of treatment.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
Small sample size: only 21 patients were analysed over time. No control group: improvements cannot be attributed to specific interventions since therapists used their own judgment. Heterogeneous diagnoses: patients had mobility deficits, headache, or radicular pain, which may affect strength differently. Attrition: five participants dropped out, primarily due to missing follow-up appointments. No comparison to pain-free norms within the same cohort structure, though baseline strength was much lower than previously reported pain-free averages.
Declared interests
None declared.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the dynamometer measures overall neck function or disability. It correlated with pain but not disability, so a patient can have low strength without high disability scores, or vice versa.