Do anthropometric characteristics of head and neck affect the craniocorpographic balance measurement?

Abstract

Objectives: The present work aimed to study the relationship of some head and neck anthropometric characteristics with the data obtained from balance analysis. Methods: Thirty healthy male volunteers participated in the study. The measurements obtained at the same time of day (10:00-12:00). Craniocorpography section of the CMS20P-2 (Zebris© Medical GmbH, Isny im Allgäu, Germany) was used for measurements. The head length, head circumference, head width, neck circumference and neck width and length anterior-posterior diameter were measured. As the balance values, the longitudinal deviation, lateral sway width, angular deviation, self-spin, longitudinal sway, lateral sway, angle of torticollis were evaluated. The relationships between data were compared statistically. Results: The head length showed moderate correlation with lateral sway width (r=-0.29), self-spin (r=-0.35) and lateral sway (r=0.28). A moderate positive relationship was found between the head length and longitudinal deviation. The correlation was also moderate between neck circumference, neck width and longitudinal sway. Neck circumference and neck width values showed a moderate correlation with longitudinal sway (r=0.46 and r=0.36). Conclusion: The results of this showed that there is a moderate correlation between the balance and the head-neck characteristics.