RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PAIN INTENSITY, DISABILITY LEVEL AND BODY AWARENESS IN INDIVIDUALS WITH CHRONIC NECK PAIN

Purpose: This cross-sectional study was planned to determine the relationship between pain intensity, disability level, and body awareness in patients suffering from chronic neck pain. Methods: A total of 115 participants (44 female, 66 male) with chronic neck pain with a mean age of 43.23 +/- 15.42 years were included in the study. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) was used to assess pain intensity, Neck Disability Index (NDI) was used to assess disability level and Body Awareness Questionnaire (BAQ) was used to evaluate body awareness of the participants. Results: There was a positive medium level correlation between pain intensity and disability level. (p=0.000; r=0.661). There was a significant, negative low level correlation between body awareness and pain intensity (p=0.001; r=-0.301) and disability level (p=0.000; r=-0.337). Conclusion: In this study, it was determined that disability level, pain intensity and body awareness parameters were negatively related in individuals with chronic neck pain. This leads to the need to evaluate body awareness in addition to the disability level and pain severity in individuals with chronic neck pain, and to add therapy methods to improve body awareness to the treatment program.