Physical neck tests offered limited evidence about future disability
A review of follow-up studies found a possible link between neck movement speed and later disability, but most tested measures gave uncertain or inconsistent predictions.
Based on the published abstract. The full paper may contain additional methods, results and limitations.
The 30-second takeaway
Faster neck movement in the frontal plane was associated with less short-term disability, but the evidence was low certainty. Other physical tests generally showed weak, absent, or inconsistent predictive relationships. Because these were observational follow-up studies, the result does not show that training someone to move their neck faster would improve their outcome.
Evidence quality was low or very low, and differences between studies prevented statistical pooling. No included study addressed thoracic pain, leaving that part of the review question unanswered.
Prediction was the research question
Researchers assessed whether physical measurements predicted later outcomes, rather than testing a treatment. They grouped findings by the measurement used, the outcome being predicted, and the length of follow-up.
Limits of the tested measures
Several measures, including neck movement range and deep neck flexor endurance, did not reliably predict outcomes. This abstract-based summary cannot establish a dependable prediction rule or identify which individual patients would benefit from a particular test.
The original publication
Physical measures of physical functioning as prognostic factors in predicting outcomes for neck and thoracic pain: a systematic review.
Begum R, Chamaa AE, Parikh P et al.
BMC Musculoskelet Disord · 2025
- PubMed ID
- 41316109
- Record checked
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