Age-related kinematic performance should be considered during fast head-neck rotation target task in individuals aged from 8 to 85 years old

Abstract

Kinematic behavior during fast cervical rotations is a useful parameter for assessing sensorimotor control performances in neck-pain patients. However, the influence of age in asymptomatic individuals from children to older people still needs to be explored. Our aim was to assess the impact of age on sensorimotor control performance of the head-neck with execution time and kinematic variables (time of task, mean speed/acceleration/deceleration, overshoots (OSs), minimum/maximum speed) during standardized fast rotation target task using the DidRen Laser test. A total of 80 volunteers were stratified in four different age-groups: Children (8–14 years): n = 16; Young Adults (18–35 years): n = 29; Old Adults (36–64 years): n = 18; Seniors (65–85 years): n = 17. Results showed that to perform the test, Children were slower (69.0 (60.6–87.3)s) compared to Young Adults (49.6 (45.6–55.6)s) with p < 0.001, and Old Adults (51.7 (48.4–55.8)s) with p < 0.001. It was also slower in Seniors (57 (52.3–67.6)s) compared to Young Adults with p < 0.013. Mean speed was slower in Children (9.4 ± 2.3 °s−1) and Seniors (10.6 ± 2.4 °s−1) compared to Young Adults (13.7 ± 1.9 °s−1) with p < 0.001 and Old Adults (13.3 ± 2.4 °s−1) with p < 0.001. Mean acceleration was slower for Children (8.4(7.6–10.2) °s−2) compared to Young Adults (11.1 (8.8–15.3) °s−2) with p < 0.016, and Old Adults (12.0(8.4–15.3) °s−2) with p < 0.015. Mean deceleration was slower for Children (−1.9(−2.6–1.4) °s−2) compared to Young Adults (−2.9(−3.7–2.5) °s−2) with p < 0.001 and Old Adults (−3.2(−3.7–2.3) °s−2) with p < 0.003. The DidRen Laser test allows us to discriminate age-specific performances for mean speed, acceleration and deceleration. Seniors and Children needed to be slower to become as precise as Young Adults and Old Adults. No difference was observed for OSs which assesses accuracy of movement. Age should therefore be considered as a key parameter when analyzing execution time and kinematic results during DidRen Laser test. These normative data can therefore guide clinicians in the assessment of subjects with neck pain.

DYSKIMOT: An Ultra-Low-Cost Inertial Sensor to Assess Head’s Rotational Kinematics in Adults during the Didren-Laser Test

“…Various noninvasive three-dimensional motion capture systems are used in the field of cervical research in order to evaluate kinematic variables going beyond simple range of motion such as speed, acceleration and deceleration using electrogoniometers [16], ultrasound waves [17], optical-based systems [18,19] and inertial sensors [20] and so on. Nevertheless, their dimension, complexity, and cost make such systems often difficult to use in clinical practice.…”

Kinematic cervical rotation performance in patients with acute non-specific neck pain during the DidRen test improves after manual mobilizations regardless of the painful spinal level

“…No signi cant kinematic differences were observed between the healthy control group compared to the normative data of Hage et al [23] .…”

“…Indeed, we showed that patients were slower to become as accurate (no signi cant difference in overshoots) as healthy controls. Moreover, our results show that the overshoot variable analysis is obviously representative of neck sensorimotor status quality and ts with the speed accuracy trade-off in the neutral zone [19,23].…”

“…Given the age difference between patients and healthy participants, we compared our healthy group to the older group using the normative data of Hage et al (n= 47, ranging from 24 ± 3 years to 53± 7 years) [23]. We used a one-way ANOVA to compare the DidRen total time results which proved to be the most age-sensitive variable for the DidRen laser test [22].…”

“…The DidRen laser is a functional test consisting of standardized task with "target-to-target" axial head rotations carried out in the same order. It consists of fast, low amplitude and accurate head axial rotational movements in response to real visual targets that must be hit by a laser beam placed on the individuals' head [21][22][23]. This test is particularly useful as it focuses on the neck sensory and motor control systems with many direct neurophysiological connections between the proprioceptive, visual and vestibular systems [8].…”