Impaired cervical proprioception in patients with lateral epicondylitis: a case-control study.

Background: Lateral elbow epicondylitis (LE) is one of the most common upper-limb overuse injuries. Several studies have reported an association between LE and proprioceptive impairments in upper-limb joints, including the wrist, elbow, and shoulder. The current study aimed to assess cervical proprioception in individuals with LE.

Methods: Thirty patients with LE and 30 asymptomatic participants (control group) were enrolled in this study. Cervical proprioception was evaluated in both groups through assessments of joint position sense (JPS), sense of movement (SOM), and sensation of force (SOF). JPS was measured using a circular pattern with a head-mounted laser, SOM was assessed using figure-of-eight (F8) and zig-zag (ZZ) tracing tasks with the same device, and SOF was evaluated using the craniocervical flexion test with a pressure biofeedback unit. Proprioceptive accuracy was quantified using absolute error values for the JPS and SOM tests, and the activation score (AS) and cumulative performance index (CPI) for the SOF test.

Results: The mean absolute error in the JPS test was significantly greater in the LE group compared to the control group in all directions: Extension: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.44, 95% CI = -3.00 to -1.41, Flexion: p < 0.001, effect size = 2.02, 95% CI = -3.02 to -1.79, Right rotation: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.93, 95% CI = -3.05 to -1.76, Left rotation: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.21, 95% CI = -2.89 to -1.16. Similarly, SOM errors were significantly higher in the LE group for both patterns (ZZ pattern: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.96, 95% CI = -8.30 to -4.82, F8 pattern: p < 0.001, effect size = 0.98, 95% CI = -8.39 to -2.60). For the SOF test, both AS and CPI scores were significantly lower in the LE group than in the control group (AS: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.14, 95% CI = 1.35 to 3.58, CPI: p < 0.001, effect size = 1.25, 95% CI = 62.91 to 151.08). All analyses demonstrated large effect sizes.

Conclusion: This study demonstrated that patients with LE exhibit significant cervical proprioceptive impairments compared to healthy controls, as evidenced by deficits in joint position sense, movement sense, and force sense.