Cervical Spine Manipulation Affects on Balance and Proprioception

June 17, 2013 updated by: Emilio, University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Immediate Effects of Cervical Spine Manipulation on Balance and Joint Proprioception in Healthy Individuals

Cervical spine manipulation (CSM) is utilized by many health care practitioners in the management of patients with neck pain and headache. How CSM works is not understood however, most researchers agree that there is likely a combination of mechanical, neurophysiological and placebo effects. This study will test for possible neurophysiological effects by examining for changes in a person's ability to reposition their head and neck in space, and maintain their balance following CSM.

Study Overview

Status

Completed

Conditions

Intervention / Treatment

Detailed Description

Consenting participants will have their proprioception tested through a joint repositioning error test for their cervical spine, and also have their balance tested through a Neurocom Balancemaster. Following these pre-intervention measures, they will receive in a random order, either a cervical spine manipulation (CSM) or a sham manipulation, and then have tests repeated to analyze for changes and differences between interventions.

Study Type

Interventional

Enrollment (Actual)

45

Phase

  • Not Applicable

Contacts and Locations

This section provides the contact details for those conducting the study, and information on where this study is being conducted.

Study Locations

  • United States
    • Nevada
      • Las Vegas, Nevada, United States, 89154
        • Department of Physical Therapy, University of Nevada Las Vegas

Participation Criteria

Researchers look for people who fit a certain description, called eligibility criteria. Some examples of these criteria are a person's general health condition or prior treatments.

Eligibility Criteria

Ages Eligible for Study

18 years to 60 years (Adult)

Accepts Healthy Volunteers

No

Genders Eligible for Study

All

Description

Inclusion Criteria:

  • healthy individuals between the ages of 18 and 60

Exclusion Criteria:

  • current neck pain/symptoms; neck pain symptoms within the last 6 months; confirmation or possibility of pregnancy; dizziness; vertigo, or nausea; history of cervical spine surgery; rheumatoid arthritis; osteoporosis; osteopenia; ankylosing spondylitis; cancer; or vertebral artery insufficiency.

Study Plan

This section provides details of the study plan, including how the study is designed and what the study is measuring.

How is the study designed?

Design Details

  • Primary Purpose: Basic Science
  • Allocation: Randomized
  • Interventional Model: Crossover Assignment
  • Masking: Double

Arms and Interventions

Participant Group / Arm
Intervention / Treatment
Experimental: Cervical Spine Manipulation
Subjects will lie supine on a treatment table and receive a high velocity low amplitude thrust joint manipulation to their cervical spine in rotation to each side of the neck.
Other: Cervical Spine Manipulation
Sham Comparator: Manual Contact
Subjects will lie supine on a treatment table and have their suboccipital region gently cupped by the therapist for 30 seconds. No movement or force will be applied, just simple manual contact.
Other: Manual Contact

What is the study measuring?

Primary Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
Cervical joint proprioception
Time Frame: 1 day (Immediately after the intervention)
Subjects wear a headband with a mounted laser pointer and sit 1 meter away from a wall. They assume their comfortable neutral cervical posture and then close their eyes and extend their cervical spine and return to their neutral posture with eyes closed. The laser pointer marks the point of return and we measure the difference between start and end points for error.
1 day (Immediately after the intervention)

Other Outcome Measures

Outcome Measure
Measure Description
Time Frame
SMART Neurocom Balance Master
Time Frame: 1 day (Immediately after the intervention)
Subjects stand on a force plate on a SMART Neurocom Balance Master and complete a Sensory Organization Test (SOT) program which assesses somatosensory, visual and vestobular systems used in maintaining balance.
1 day (Immediately after the intervention)

Collaborators and Investigators

This is where you will find people and organizations involved with this study.

Sponsor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Publications and helpful links

The person responsible for entering information about the study voluntarily provides these publications. These may be about anything related to the study.

Helpful Links

Study record dates

These dates track the progress of study record and summary results submissions to ClinicalTrials.gov. Study records and reported results are reviewed by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) to make sure they meet specific quality control standards before being posted on the public website.

Study Major Dates

Study Start

April 1, 2011

Primary Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2013

Study Completion (Actual)

June 1, 2013

Study Registration Dates

First Submitted

December 5, 2012

First Submitted That Met QC Criteria

December 7, 2012

First Posted (Estimate)

December 10, 2012

Study Record Updates

Last Update Posted (Estimate)

June 19, 2013

Last Update Submitted That Met QC Criteria

June 17, 2013

Last Verified

June 1, 2013

More Information

Terms related to this study

Keywords

Additional Relevant MeSH Terms

Other Study ID Numbers

  • 1105-3780

This information was retrieved directly from the website clinicaltrials.gov without any changes. If you have any requests to change, remove or update your study details, please contact register@clinicaltrials.gov. As soon as a change is implemented on clinicaltrials.gov, this will be updated automatically on our website as well.

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