CHAPTER CONTENTS PAGE

1 INTRODUCTION 5

1.1 What is neck pain? 6

1.2 Neck pain disorders 7

1.3 Cervical muscle activation patterns 13

1.4 Aims of the Study 16

1.5 Hypothesis 17

2 REVIEW OF LITERATURE 19

3 MATERIAL & METHODOLOGY 31

3.1 Subjects of the Study 31

3.2 Design of the Study 31

3.3 Inclusion Criteria 31

3.4 Exclusion Criteria 31

3.5 Data Collections 33

3.6 Material Used 35

3.7 Procedure 36

3.8 Data processing & outcome measures 37

4 RESULTS 49

5 DISCUSSION 58

5.1 Scope for Future Research 66

6 CONCLUSION 68
 REFERENCES 70

ANNEXURES

A Consent Form

B Assessment Form
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Overview of the samples, design, primary 32

outcome measures and intervention included
in the studies.
Table 4.1 Orthogonal Partial Least Squares analysis of 55
sensorimotor variables revealing group
differences between the neck pain groups and
healthy controls in study I-III using self-
assessed subject characteristics as predictors.

LIST OF FIGURE

Figure 3.1 A Schematic illustration of the pointing 36

movement task.
Figure 3.2 Schematic of the apparatus for the neck 44
coordination exercise.

LIST OF GRAPH

Graph 4.1 Box plots (interquartile ranges) for the end- 50

point variable error (cm) controlled for Peak
Velocity separately for the CON, NS and WAD
groups and directions.
Graph 4.2 Exemplar plots of Center of Pressure (CoP) 51
data and the rambling (Ra) and trembling (Tr)
components from one control subject (A and C)
and one subject with whiplash-associated
disorders (B and D).
Graph 4.3 Box-plots showing the distribution for 52
rambling (A, B) and trembling area (C, D) for
each data collection, sample (A, C: sample 1, B,
D: sample 2) and testing condition (B and D).