Relationship between Neck Muscle Cross-Sectional Area with Craniovertebral Angle Among the Subjects with Chronic Neck Pain

Background: Neck pain is a common condition affecting many people worldwide. However, the relationships between neck muscle cross-sectional area (CSA), and craniovertebral angle (CVA), in chronic neck pain patients remains poorly understood. This study aims to investigate the association between these factors among the subjects with chronic neck pain. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study design, where 21 patients presenting to radiology department at King Fahd Hospital, Madina with chronic neck pain were included. They aged between 25–55 years, which includes both male and female subjects, who have not undergone any of neck or shoulder surgery, subjects without previous local steroid injections, history of malignancy, pregnancy, spinal cord injury, spinal fractures, deformities of the spine, or any systemic disorders were included. After collecting the basic demographic details, all the subjects were measured for the CSA of neck muscles by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), and CVA by using digital camera. Results: The Pearson's correlation coefficient was used to examine the relationship between variables and regression analysis to determine the most influencing factor among all variables. The results showed a significant positive relationship between the neck muscle CSA with CVA (r = 0.65, p ≤ 0.01). In addition, the linear regression analysis showed that CSA of neck muscle is influenced by 63% variance in CVA and the CVA is influenced by 51% variance in duration of pain (R2 = 63%, R2 = 51%, p ≤ 0.01). Conclusion: The results of the study showed a positive relationship between neck muscle CSA, with CVA, among the patients with chronic neck pain, which states that the neck muscle CSA can influence the CVA for which the neck muscle strength need to be improved in order to maintain a proper neck posture among the subjects with chronic neck pain.