Altered transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscle activation during cervical motor control tasks in individuals with chronic neck pain: A surface EMG-based analysis.
Background: Chronic neck pain (CNP) is associated with disturbances in cervical motor control and altered postural strategies. However, little is known about how cervical motor demands influence the recruitment of deep abdominal stabilizers. This study examined the activation of the transversus abdo...
| Published in: | Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 1428 - 1438 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , |
| Format: | research tables/charts Journal Article |
| Published: |
Sage Publications Inc.
Jul2026
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ccm&AN=194801605&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ccm uiTerm: 194801605 longDbName: CINAHL Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: dissinfo: jinfo: jid: 10538127 3MD jtl: Journal of Back & Musculoskeletal Rehabilitation issn: 10538127 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Jul2026 vid: 39 iid: 4 pid: 344 pub: Sage Publications Inc. place: Thousand Oaks, California artinfo: ui: 194801605 191675015 194801605 194801605 10.1177/10538127261424302 194801605 ppf: 1428 ppct: 10 formats: tig: atl: Altered transversus abdominis and internal oblique muscle activation during cervical motor control tasks in individuals with chronic neck pain: A surface EMG-based analysis. aug: au: Baydogan Tan, Banu Gokcen Tan, Sefa Karatas, Levent Karaoglan, Belgin affil: Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Gazi University Faculty of Medicine, Ankara, Türkiye sug: subj: Neck Pain Physiopathology Chronic Pain Physiopathology Transversus Abdominis Physiology Abdominal Oblique Muscles Physiology Task Performance and Analysis Neck Muscles Physiology Motor Skills Evaluation Electromyography Methods Test-Retest Reliability Human Turkiye Male Female Adult Middle Age Cross Sectional Studies Academic Medical Centers Descriptive Statistics Data Analysis Software Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient Intraclass Correlation Coefficient Post Hoc Analysis Neurologic Examination Musculoskeletal System Pathology Visual Analog Scaling Therapeutic Exercise Exercise Test Isometric Contraction Evaluation Analysis of Variance Scales Adult: 19-44 years Middle Aged: 45-64 years Male Female ab: Background: Chronic neck pain (CNP) is associated with disturbances in cervical motor control and altered postural strategies. However, little is known about how cervical motor demands influence the recruitment of deep abdominal stabilizers. This study examined the activation of the transversus abdominis–internal oblique (TrA–IO) during isolated and combined cervical–trunk motor tasks in individuals with CNP. Objective: To compare TrA–IO activation during the abdominal drawing-in maneuver (ADIM) and ADIM combined with the craniocervical flexion test (CCFT) between individuals with CNP and healthy controls, and to evaluate the reliability of RMS-normalized surface EMG measurements. Methods: A total of 38 participants (19 individuals with chronic neck pain and 19 age- and sex-matched healthy controls) performed ADIM and ADIM + CCFT tasks while surface EMG recorded bilateral TrA–IO activity. EMG signals were processed using RMS and normalized to maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). A 2 × 2 mixed-model ANOVA evaluated group and task effects. Reliability was assessed using ICC, SEM, and MDC. Results: Both groups showed increased TrA–IO activation during ADIM + CCFT compared to ADIM (p < 0.01). However, the CNP group demonstrated significantly lower activation during the combined task (left: p = 0.026; right: p < 0.001). No associations were found between EMG activation and pain, disability, or symptom duration. Reliability analyses showed excellent test–retest stability (ICC = 0.91–0.99). Conclusion: Individuals with CNP exhibit impaired ability to increase deep abdominal activation during cervical motor control tasks, indicating disrupted cervico-lumbopelvic synergy. Rehabilitation programs should integrate deep cervical flexor training with core stabilization strategies to address multi-segmental motor control deficits. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: research tables/charts Journal Article ougenre: Article language: English refInfo: holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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