Comparison of cervical muscles endurance in young people with and without neck pain

Aim: The aim of this study was to compare the cervical muscle endurance of young people with and without neck pain. The second aim of this study was to explore the gender differences in people with neck pain for neck muscle endurance. Material and Methods: The study included 130 university students aged between 18 to 25 years (55 females, 75 males). Forty-two of those students who have neck pain (NP) at least 3 months and 88 of the students without neck pain (C) constituted the sample. Pain intensity was assessed with Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Isometric neck muscle endurance of the participants was assessed using cervical flexor (NF) and extensor (NE) muscles endurance tests. Results: The main pain intensity of the subjects with NP was 4,19 +/- 1.92. For all subjects, the mean endurance of both NF (p=0.03) and NE (p=0.05) muscles of the subjects without pain was higher compared with subjects with NP. When the analysis was classified by gender, male subjects without pain had higher NF (p=0.02) and NE (p=0.002) muscle endurance than male subjects with pain. On the other hand, there were no significant differences between female subjects with and without NP (p>0.05). Discussion: These findings suggest that neck flexor and extensor muscle endurance are affected by neck pain. On the other hand, gender is a significant factor for neck muscle endurance in subjects with neck pain. Further investigations are needed to have a wide data to consider the gender and pain for neck muscle endurance.