The intra- and inter-rater reliability of five clinical muscle performance tests in patients with and without neck pain
The aim of this study was to determine the clinical reliability of five muscle performance tests in patients with and without neck pain.
The Cranio-Cervical Flexion Test (CCFT) is a clinical assessment test of the deep cervical flexor muscle function. It targets activation and endurance of the deep cervical flexors in progressive inner range positions.
The neck flexor muscle endurance test is a muscle performance test targeting neck flexor muscle endurance.
Besides the two tests above, the Cervical Joint Position Error (JPE) and newly developed extensor muscle test [A&P: both described in free full text article], have been done. This study investigates the reliability of five neck muscle performance tests using cost- and time-effective methods similar to those used in daily clinical practice in physiotherapy. Intra- and inter-rater reliability ranged from moderate to almost perfect agreement with the exception of a new test (neck extensor test), which ranged from slight to moderate agreement. The significant variability observed suggests that tests like the NET and the modified NFME test (sitting version) are too unstable to use when evaluating muscle performance. Furthermore, determining the smallest detectable change for the CCFT revealed that a change in score has to be at least 5 mmHg to be interpreted as a real change > from Juul et al., BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders (2013) 14:339. All rights reserved to BioMed Central Ltd. The YouTube clips have been found on YouTube to vizualize the tests.
The text above is based on the free full text article "The intra- and inter-rater reliability of five clinical muscle performance tests in patients with and without neck pain"