Table 1 Summary of tests included in the reproducibility and test-retest study

CCFT

Supine crook lying position, cervical spine in neutral. Pressure Biofeedback placed suboccipitally and inflated to 20 mmHg. Subject performs cranio-cervical flexion through five progressive stages (22-30 mmHg)

Pressure Biofeedback (Stabilizer Chattanooga Group, South Pacific)

20,22,24, 26,28,30 mmHg.

[38]

DCE

Prone, legs straight, arms by the side. Laser light attached to the head, aimed at a target on the floor (60 cm distant). Subject performs low cervical extension with the cranio-cervical region maintained in a neutral position (light on target).

Laser Light, Head Band, Target sheet

Seconds (0-120)

[48]

ROM

Sitting, feet supported. Bubble inclinometer placed on the highest point of the head. Active flexion, extension and lateral flexion are performed. Rotation is performed with the designated equipment (Figure 2).

Bubble inclinometer (Baseline Bubble Inclinometer, Fabrication Enterprises Inc, USA)

Degrees (0-100)

[65]

JPE

Sitting, feet supported. Wearing a cap with a centimetre measure attached to the back (horizontal and vertical). Laser light placed behind, with starting position at 0. Active neck rotation, flexion, extension are performed with eyes closed and reposition error is measured.

Laser light, cap with millimetre measure

Millimetre (0-50)

[23]

GS

Sitting, feet supported. Black marker on a wall positioned 1 m in front. Subject keeps gaze fixed on the marker while performing active neck rotation, flexion and extension.

Marker

Positive/Negative based on patients report of symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, disturbed vision.

[12, 13]

SPNT

Sitting, feet supported. Head in neutral position. Subject follows with eyes, a pen moving horizontally from side to side ~30 cm in front whilst keeping head still. Task repeated with the neck in torsion position

Marker, Pen

Positive/Negative based on patients report of symptoms such as nausea, dizziness, disturbed vision.

[57]

SWAY

1) Standing, feet together. Arms crossed over chest. Keep focus on a black marker positioned 2.5 m in front, stand as still as possible (eyes open and closed). 2) Standing on the non-dominant leg. Arms crossed over chest. Keep focus on a black marker 2.5 m in front, stand as still as possible.

Wii balance board (Nintendo, Kyoto, Japan), SwayWithWii software program

95% Confidence Ellipse Area

[63]

Anterior/Posterior sway (cm.)

Medio/Lateral sway (cm.)

Centre of Pressure Path Length (cm.)

PPT

Supine for PPT over tibialis anterior. Prone for PPT over the infraspinatus and over the cervical column, between the transverse processes of C3 and C4. Pressure applied at a slow rate.

Hand-held algometer (Wagner, FPX algometer, USA)

Kgf

[28]