Balance impairment during standing and walking in individuals with cervicogenic headache
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Abstract
Background: Evidence suggests that abnormal cervical afferent input has an influence on balance during standing and walking in individuals with neck pain. However, there has been no research investigating balance impairment in individuals with cervicogenic headache.
Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate balance impairment during standing and walking in individuals with cervicogenic headache.
Methods: Participants consisted of 20 individuals with cervicogenic headache aged between 18-59 years and 20 healthy controls of similar age and gender. Balance during standing was assessed using a swaymeter under four conditions: normal stance on firm and soft surfaces with eye open/closed. Each condition was tested for 30 seconds. Balance during walking was assessed with 10 Meter Walk Test under normal and tandem walking conditions.
Results: Individuals with cervicogenic headache had a larger sway area than controls during normal stance on a soft surface with eye open (p=0.03). There was a trend toward an increased sway area during normal stance on a soft surface with eye closed in the cervicogenic headache group (p=0.067). No significant differences between groups during normal stance on a firm surface with eye open/closed were found (p>0.05). The headache group had slower gait speed than controls during tandem walking (p=0.001). There were no significant differences in gait speed during normal walking and a total number of errors during the tandem walk test (p>0.05).
Conclusion: The results of this study suggested that individuals with cervicogenic headache had balance impairment during standing and walking. However, the impairment depends on the condition tested.
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References
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