Standing balance in patients with whiplash-associated neck pain and idiopathic neck pain when compared with asymptomatic participants: A systematic review

Neck proprioception is one of the information sources that helps regulate postural balance. However, it is believed to be impaired as patients with both idiopathic neck pain (INP) and whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) have been shown to have a more unstable balance than healthy controls. This systematic review aims to determine if there are significant differences in balance between patients with INP and healthy controls and between patients with WAD and healthy controls. Studies were sought from PubMed, Cinahl, Physiotherapy Evidence Database, Web of Science, Academic Search Complete, Science Direct, and Scielo. Two reviewers independently screened titles and abstracts, assessed full reports for potentially eligible studies, and extracted information on participants' characteristics, pain characteristics, study methods, study results, and study quality. Twelve studies were included in this systematic review. Of these, six compared INP and healthy controls and eight compared WAD and healthy controls. All but one study (11/12) found a statistically significant difference for at least one measurement between patients with INP and WAD and healthy controls. The results of this systematic review suggest that both patients with INP and patients with WAD have poorer balance than healthy controls.