Affiliations: [a] Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway | [b] Department of Neuromedicine and Movement Science, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway | [c] Unicare Helsefort Rehabilitation Centre, Rissa, Norway
Correspondence:
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Corresponding author: Paul Jarle Mork, Department of Public Health and Nursing, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway. Tel.: +47 73590447; E-mail: paul.mork@ntnu.no.
Abstract: BACKGROUND: There is a lack of test-retest reliability studies of measurements of cervical muscle strength, taking into account gender and possible learning effects. OBJECTIVE: To investigate test-retest reliability of measurement of maximal isometric cervical muscle strength by handheld dynamometry. METHODS: Thirty women (age 20–58 years) and 28 men (age 20–60 years) participated in the study. Maximal isometric strength (neck flexion, neck extension, and right/left lateral flexion) was measured on three separate days at least five days apart by one evaluator. RESULTS: Intra-rater consistency tended to improve from day 1–2 measurements to day 2–3 measurements in both women and men. In women, the intra-class correlation coefficients (ICC) for day 2 to day 3 measurements were 0.91 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.82–0.95) for neck flexion, 0.88 (95% CI, 0.76–0.94) for neck extension, 0.84 (95% CI, 0.68–0.92) for right lateral flexion, and 0.89 (95% CI, 0.78–0.95) for left lateral flexion. The corresponding ICCs among men were 0.86 (95% CI, 0.72–0.93) for neck flexion, 0.93 (95% CI, 0.85–0.97) for neck extension, 0.82 (95% CI, 0.65–0.91) for right lateral flexion and 0.73 (95% CI, 0.50–0.87) for left lateral flexion. CONCLUSION: This study describes a reliable and easy-to-administer test for assessing maximal isometric cervical muscle strength.
