A clinical method for measuring the distribution of segmental flexion mobility in the cervico-thoracic spine

The aim of this study was to evaluate the validity and the repeatability of a new technique to assess segmental flexion mobility in the cervico-thoracic spine between segments C7 and T5. The new technique is referred to as the Cervico-Thoracic-Ratio (the CTR-technique). The radiological evaluation of skin distraction measurements showed that validity was high for the CTR-technique. A high correlation between vertebral flexion mobility and skin distraction was recognized individually and for the whole group. The evaluation of repeatability was found to be high for intratester and fair for intertester repeatability. The CTR-technique may become a valuable complement to other methods for assessing segmental flexion mobility in patients suffering from neck-shoulder pain in clinical practice.