Relationship between anxiety symptoms and cervical motor control in individuals without diagnosed psychiatric or neurological disorders

TL;DR

The study found that higher anxiety levels are linked to worse cervical motor control in people without psychiatric or neurological disorders.

Contribution

It reveals a novel link between anxiety symptoms and cervical sensorimotor disturbances in non-clinical populations.

Findings

Higher anxiety levels were significantly associated with increased angular error in cervical motor control.

Participants with moderate and severe anxiety showed increased pain perception and motor dysfunction.

Cervical motor control errors and vertigo were independently associated with anxiety severity.

Abstract

This study aimed to explore the association between anxiety symptoms and cervical motor control in individuals without diagnosed psychiatric or neurological disorders.

A cross-sectional study was conducted with 101 participants aged 18–60 without diagnosed psychiatric or neurological disorders. Anxiety levels were assessed using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (HAM-A), a clinician-oriented measure applied here to a non-clinical sample, and severity cut-offs were interpreted cautiously. Cervical motor control was measured using the Head Repositioning Accuracy-to-Target test. Additional clinical variables such as vertigo, cervical pain, and headache were also recorded. Statistical analyses included Spearman correlations, multiple linear and logistic regressions.

Higher anxiety levels were significantly associated with increased angular error in cervical motor control, particularly in flexion, extension, and right rotation movements. A progressive increase in pain perception and motor dysfunction was observed in participants with moderate and severe anxiety. Multivariate analyses showed that cervical motor control errors and vertigo were independently associated with anxiety severity and clinically significant anxiety.

Our findings revealed an association between anxiety symptoms and cervical sensorimotor disturbances in individuals without diagnosed psychiatric or neurological disorders. Given the cross-sectional design, these findings should be interpreted as observational and exploratory.

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