Repetitions Necessary for Motor Learning of the Craniocervical Flexion Test

This study aimed to identify the number of repetitions needed for familiarization before the result of the craniocervical flexion test (CCFT) is stable and the best performance can be scored.

This was a cross-sectional observational study of healthy participants conducted in a research laboratory. Participants performed 12 repetitions of the CCFT with a 1-minute interval between each test. The primary outcome was the performance in CCFT. The second, fourth, fifth, seventh, and 12th repetitions of the CCFT were compared using the Friedman and Wilcoxon post hoc tests. The test repetitions to be compared were chosen based on the CCFT protocol, mean performance stability, and sequential analysis method.

Thirty participants were assessed and included in the analysis (age = 21. 9 ± 4.0 years). CCFT performance analysis revealed a difference between the 2nd and the 12th tests (P < .001; r = ‒0.74). When comparing the fifth test to the seventh test, a significant improvement in performance was observed (P = .015; r = ‒0.44); however, when comparing the 7th to the 12th test, there was no difference in performance (P = .071; r = ‒0.32). In addition, test's mean scores became stable after the 6 tests, indicating that performance was improved until the seventh test.

Six repetitions were needed to obtain a stable performance and full familiarization to be achieved by participants.