Thoracic Posture and Mobility in Mechanical Neck Pain Population: A Review of the Literature

摘要

Neck pain is a common condition with several proposed biomechanical contributing factors. Thoracic spine dysfunction is hypothesizedas one of the predisposing factors, which necessitates the need to explore the contribution of thoracic posture and mobilitytoward neck pain. Accordingly, the present work aimed to review the existing literature investigating the presence of thoracic spinedysfunction in individuals with neck pain. A literature search was conducted in the three electronic databases of PubMed, CINAHL,and Web of Science. Studies published between 1990 and 2017 were considered. After reviewing the abstracts, two authors independentlyscrutinized the full-text documents for their relevance. The initial search yielded 2,167 articles, of which nine studies involvingcomparisons of neck pain patients and healthy controls were identified for the review. Increased thoracic kyphosis was positivelycorrelated with the presence of forward head posture but not uniformly associated with neck pain intensity and disability. Thoracicmobility was reduced in the neck pain population, and the role of thoracic kyphosis as a risk factor for pain development could not beconfirmed. Thus, an association exists between thoracic kyphosis and postural alteration in the cervical spine. The review favors theinclusion of thoracic spine assessment and treatment in mechanical neck pain patients. Further studies are needed to investigate thecause-effect relationship between thoracic posture and cervical dysfunction.