Coll. Antropol. 31 (2007) 3: 823–827
Original scientific paper
Impairment of Proprioception After
Whiplash Injury
Melita Uremovi}1, Selma Cvijeti}2, Marija Bo{njak Pa{i}3, Vesna [eri}3, Branka Vidrih4
and Vida Demarin3
1 Zagreb Insurance Company, Zagreb, Croatia
2 Institute for Medical Research and Occupational Health, Zagreb, Croatia
3 Department of Neurology, University Hospital »Sestre milosrdnice«, Zagreb, Croatia
4 Department of Psychiatry, University Hospital »Sestre milosrdnice«, Zagreb, Croatia
A B S T R A C T
Whiplash injury usually occurs in traffic accidents. Persons experienced this injury might have an impairment of
proprioception clinically expressed as inability to determine the exact position of their heads. The aim of this study was to
examine the loss of proprioception in people who had a whiplash injury. The study included 60 subjects with cervical
spine injury, aged 20 to 50 years and 60 healthy volunteers matched by sex and age. The instrument used for cervical
spine mobility assessment was the Cervical Measurement System (CMS), which determines the ability of subjects to re-
turn their head in the exact position as it was before they turned it 30 degrees left or right. Patients with cervical spine in-
jury showed significant impairment of proprioception in comparison with healthy subjects (P<0.001). The results support
the hypothesis that subject with recent cervical spine injury have incorrect perception of their head position. Therefore,
their rehabilitation should include the correction of proprioception and head coordination.
Key words: whiplash injury, proprioception, standard measurements of cervical spine mobility (CMS), rehabilita-
tion of cervical spine injury
Introduction
Cervical spine is frequently exposed to injury due to
great mobility and head mass which is approximately 4.5
kg1. Cervical spine injuries often result from car acci-
dents (3) and are usually complex in origin2. The distance
between the driver’s or passenger’s head and the head
restraint is between five and 25 cm