Study On The Correlation Between Respiratory Function And Neck Function In Patients With Chronic Neck Pain

Objective:the incidence of Chronic Neck Pain（CNP）in the population is increasing,but the causes have not been unified.In recent years,the relationship between respiratory pattern and musculoskeletal system has attracted more and more attention.Therefore,this study started from the degree of chest expansion,pulmonary function and respiratory muscle strength between the CNP group and the healthy group.In addition,correlation analysis was carried out with cervical functional indicators to explore the connection between respiratory function and musculoskeletal system in CNP population,so as to provide ideas for the prevention,monitoring and treatment of CNP.Methods:according to whether suffering from chronic neck pain,40 subjects were divided into experimental group（20,CNP group）and the control group（20,NNP group）.Lung function parameters and the strength of respiratory muscles were detected by a breathing spirometer.The chest expansion,endurance of deep neck flexors,neck muscle strength,Forward Head Angle（FHA）,pain,neck joint mobility and neck disability were measured.In the data analysis,the endurance of deep neck flexors,the Forward Head Angle,chest expansion and the respiratory parameters of the two groups were first compared between the two groups by Independent-Sample T test,and then the correlation analysis between positive respiratory indicators and neck functional indicators was carried out（Pearson correlation coefficients for parametric variations,Spearman correlation coefficients for nonparametric variations）.Results:1.The comparison results between the CNP group and the NNP group were as followed:（1）there was no significantly difference in the chest expansion and the FHA between the two groups.（2）The endurance of neck flexors in CNP group was significantly lower than that in NNP group（P<0.01）.（3）FEF₂₅,FEF₅₀,MMEF,PEF,FEV1/FVC,MEP,MIP in CNP group were significantly lower than that in NNP group,and P<0.05.2.Correlation analysis results in the CNP group showed that（1）there was a medium negative correlation between MIP and FHA（r=-0.621,P<0.01）.（2）MEP was positively correlated with the endurance of the deep flexor muscles and the strength of the neck flexor muscle（r=0.543～0.738,P<0.05）.（3）there was a positive correlation between PEF and endurance of deep neck flexors（r=0.510）.It was negatively correlated with the FHA（r=-0.504,P<0.05）.（4）there was a moderately negative correlation between FEV₁/FVC and pain intensity（r=-0.515,P<0.05）.（5）FEF₂₅ was positively correlated with endurance of deep neck flexors（r=0.456）,and negatively correlated with the FHA（r=-0.476,P<0.05）.Conclusion:1.The respiratory function of patients with chronic neck pain is decreased,which includes decreased small airway patency and reduced respiratory muscle strength.2.The endurance of deep neck flexors decreased in patients with chronic neck pain,but the degree of chest expansion and the FHA were not different from those without neck pain.3.There is a correlation between respiratory function and neck function in patients with chronic neck pain.This suggests that respiratory function should be considered in clinical evaluation and treatment of chronic neck pain.