Impact of Pain on Reaction Behaviour and Attention-Concentration in Patients with Cervical Radiculopathy
Keywords:
Cervical radiculopathy, Attention and concentration, reaction behaviorAbstract
Background: Pain in the cervical spine, with or without radiculopathy, adversely affects an individual's physical and emotional health, imposing a considerable burden on individuals, families, and society at large.
Purpose: This study was conducted to investigate the impact of cervical radiculopathic pain on reaction behavior, attention and concentration.
Methods: Sixty-four participants, comprising forty-four patients with chronic cervical radiculopathy as the study group and twenty age-matched healthy individuals as the control group, were recruited for the study. The age varied from 30 to 45 years. All participants were evaluated for cognitive functions with the RehaCom equipment.
Results The findings indicated a significant disparity between the two groups regarding the number of errors with no reaction (p = 0.001), the number of errors with incorrect reactions (p = 0.028), the total number of errors (p < 0.001), and the correct reactions (p < 0.001). However, no significant differences were observed between the normal group and patients with cervical radiculopathy in other reaction-related metrics. Conversely, there were no notable changes between the two groups regarding any items related to attention and focus. Within the patient cohort, a significant moderate positive correlation was observed between pain intensity and the number of errors in reaction time (r=0.336, p=0.026), total errors (r=0.386, p=0.010), and reaction inter-stimulation (r=0.376, p=0.012). Additionally, a significant strong negative correlation was found between pain intensity and correct reactions (r=0.497, p=0.001). No substantial link exists between pain severity and behavioral response.
Conclusion: Reaction Behaviour and Attention-Concentration are affected in patients with CR, These cognitive domains might be affected by pain in such patients.
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