Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of the depression level on neck pain, range of motion, and cervical joint position sense.
Materials and methods: A total of 160 (80 women) healthy, sedentary volunteers between age 18 and 25 years participated in this cross-sectional research. The Beck Depression Inventory was used to determine the depression level of the participants. Cervical range of motion and joint position sense were assessed using an inclinometer, whereas Neck Pain and Disability Scale (NPDS) was used to evaluate neck pain and disability.
Results: When NPDS scores were compared according to the depression levels of subgroups, there was a significant difference (p<0.05). Binary comparisons revealed that the difference was between the normal and moderately depressed groups (p<0.05). There was no significant difference between the range of motion and joint position sense findings of the subgroups according to the depression levels (p>0.05). Joint position sense findings of the subgroups according to the NPDS showed that the joint position sense during 30° extension of the moderately painful group was lesser than that of the minimal painful group (p<0.05).
Conclusion: Our results showed that cervical symptoms increased as the depression level increased in young adults. Additionally, it was found that the joint position sense of participants with moderate neck pain during extension was less than that of participants with minimal neck pain. We conclude that our study may contribute to understand the psychogenic factors associated with neck pain.
Cite this article as: Akbaş E, Erdem EU, Ünver B. The Effect of the Depression Level on Neck Pain, Range of Motion, and Cervical Joint Position Sense. Journal of Health Science and Profession 2019; 6(3): 555-63.