Objective: To determine whether significant differences existed between nor
mal and patient groups on three postural measurements: anterior-posterior t
otal head excursion (TI-IE), resting head posture in sitting (RHPsit), and
resting head posture in standing (RHPstd).
Subjects: Forty-two healthy subjects, 13 men and 29 women between the ages
of 20 and 60 years, were matched Co 42 patients according to gender and age
.
Design: Measurements of THE, RHPsit, and RHPstd were taken for each subject
. Patients were measured during their initial evaluation and had neck pain
as a primary or secondary complaint.
Results: A two-way multivariate analysis of variance followed by two-way an
alyses of variance showed that normal subjects had a significantly (p < .05
) greater THE than did the patients and that men (patients and controls) sc
ored significantly higher (p (.05) than women (patients and controls) on bo
th THE and RHPstd.
Conclusion: Clinical assessment of patients with cervical pain should focus
on cervical mobility rather than resting head posture. Head/neck posture i
s different for males and females and they should not be judged by the same
standard.