Interactive Journal of Medical Research (Mar 2023)

Neck Collar Assessment for People Living With Motor Neuron Disease: Are Current Outcome Measures Suitable?

  • Samuel D J Spears,
  • Yusuf F Abdulle,
  • Dionisios Korovilas,
  • Ryo Torii,
  • Deepak M Kalaskar,
  • Nikhil Sharma

DOI
https://doi.org/10.2196/43274
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 12
p. e43274

Abstract

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A majority of people living with motor neuron disease (MND) experience weakness of the neck and as a result, experience head drop. This exacerbates problems with everyday activities (eating, talking, breathing, etc). Neck collars are often used to support head drop; however, these are typically designed for prehospitalization settings to manage and brace the cervical region of the spine. As a result, it has been recorded that people living with MND often reject these collars for a variety of reasons but most notably because they are too restricting. The current standardized outcome measures (most notably restricting cervical range of motion) used for neck collars are summarized herein along with whether they are suitable for a bespoke neck collar specifically designed for people living with MND.