Table 1 Measurement of pain-on-movement and pain-at-rest

M. trapezius (upper part):

Position: the subject sat on a chair and the investigator stood behind him/her and fixed his/her shoulders. The investigator determined which shoulder the subject pulled his/her head towards.

Test: The subject pulled her/his head sideways towards the left or the right shoulder as appropriate without lifting up the shoulder at the same time.

M. erector spinae (upper part):

Position: The subject sat on a chair and the investigator stood behind him/her and fixed his/her shoulders with his hands. The subject’s back leaned against the back of the chair.

Test: The subject tried to place his/her chin onto the chest without lifting up the shoulders at the same time and without losing contact with the back of the chair.

M. levator scapulae

Position: The subject sat on a chair with hanging arms and the investigator stood behind and fixed his/her shoulders with his hands.

Test: The subject tried to lift the arms over the side upwards against the gentle resistance of the investigators hands.

After each test:

The extent of pain was evaluated in answer to the question:

“How would you describe your neck pain during movement?”

The subject drew a perpendicular line on the 100-mm VAS scale with anchors at 0 = “No pain at all” and 100 = “Extreme pain” to reflect the pain intensity during movement.

The results were documented directly in the CRF.

Pain-on-movement was defined as the average of the three VAS scores measured with the three muscle tests.

The subject stood in an upright position for one minute, relatively motionless.

The extent of pain is evaluated in answer to the question:

“How would you describe your neck pain right now?”

The subject drew a perpendicular line on the 100-mm VAS scale with anchors at 0 = “No pain at all” and 100 = “Extreme pain” to reflect the pain intensity at rest.

The results were documented directly in the CRF.