Migraine, chronic neck pain and endurance muscle cervical test – a controlled study

Abstract text (incl. figure legends and references)

Objective: To verify if the cervical pain observed in patients with migraine may occur due to cervical muscle dysfunction, the presence of pain during the cervical muscle endurance test or a combination of both. Methods: Sample consists of 100 women, stratified by diagnosis (migraine, cervical pain, both and none) and self-reported pain during the cervical muscle endurance test (with or without headache and / or cervical pain during the endurance test). The resistance test for cervical flexion and extension was evaluated and immediately after each resistance test, the participants were asked if they had neck and / or head pain during the test. Pain was classified according to the numerical pain rate scale (NPRS, 0-10). Results: As for the diagnosis, during the endurance test in flexion, migraine patients with cervical pain presented less endurance when compared to the control (p = 0.02). In the extension endurance test, the cervical pain groups with or without migraine, had a shorter sustaining time than the control group (p <0.01). As for the report of pain during the endurance test in flexion and extension, those who had headache sustained less time than those without headache during the test. Similar results were seen when comparing those with head and neck pain versus no pain during the test (p <0.05). Conclusion: The clinical diagnosis was not decisive for the performance of muscular endurance. Instead, the presence of headache associate or not neck pain during the test is what caused the endurance time to decrease.