The effect of dual-tasking on gait parameters in people with chronic non-specific neck pain

Abstract Purpose Gait assessment is crucial for determining the progression of functional impairment in people with neck pain. The purpose of the current study was to evaluate gait characteristics under tandem walking and dual-tasking in people with chronic non-specific neck pain. Methods Twenty-one adults with a history of non-specific neck pain and twenty-two matched control adults walked on a motorized treadmill under normal and tandem walking with and without a cognitive task. Gait spatiotemporal variables were determined using the motion analysis system. Results The neck pain group had significantly lower stride length, stride velocity, and higher variability of stride length and stride velocity compared to the controls in all conditions (p < .05, ηp2 ≥ .09). All participants showed a shorter stride length, and lower stride length variability under cognitive dual-task (p < .01, ηp2 > .10). Tandem walking resulted in lower cadence in the chronic neck pain group compared to the controls, with a large effect size (p = .02, ηp2 = .11). Conclusions Given these findings, it can be concluded that neck pain contributed to disturbance of gait parameters. Dual-tasking did not change gait parameters in people with neck pain differently than controls. Further research is required to examine the dual-task gait with more challenging cognitive and walking tasks in people with neck pain.