Cervical joint position sense in rugby players versus non-rugby players

Abstract 

Objective

To determine whether cervical joint position sense is modified by intensive rugby practice.

Design

A group-comparison study.

Setting

University Medical Bioengineering Laboratory.

Participants

Twenty young elite rugby players (10 forwards and 10 backs) and 10 young non-rugby elite sports players.

Interventions

Participants were asked to perform the cervicocephalic relocation test (CRT) to the neutral head position (NHP) that is, to reposition their head on their trunk, as accurately as possible, after full active left and right cervical rotation. Rugby players were asked to perform the CRT to NHP before and after a training session.

Main Outcome Measurements

Absolute and variable errors were used to assess accuracy and consistency of the repositioning for the three groups of Forwards, Backs and Non-rugby players, respectively.

Results

The 2 groups of Forwards and Backs exhibited higher absolute and variable errors than the group of Non-rugby players. No difference was found between the two groups of Forwards and Backs and no difference was found between Before and After the training session.

Conclusions

The cervical joint position sense of young elite rugby players is altered compared to that of non-rugby players. Furthermore, Forwards and Backs demonstrated comparable repositioning errors before and after a specific training session, suggesting that cervical proprioceptive alteration is mainly due to tackling and not the scrum.

Keywords: Rugby union, Proprioception, Cervical spine