A comparison of neck movement in the soft cervical collar and rigid cervical brace in healthy subjects.

Objective: The soft cervical collar has been prescribed for whiplash injury but has been shown to be clinically ineffective. As some authors report superior results for managing whiplash injury with a cervical brace, we were interested in comparing the mechanical effectiveness of the soft collar with a rigid cervical brace. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to measure ranges of motion in subjects without neck pain using a soft cervical collar and a rigid brace compared with no orthosis.

Comparison of methods of measuring active cervical range of motion.

Study Design: Experimental study. Cervical range of motion (CROM) was measured using different clinical methods.

Objective: To compare the reliability and accuracy of visual estimation, tape measurement, and the universal goniometer (UG) with that of the CROM goniometer in measuring active CROM in healthy volunteers.