Poor Neck Proprioception May Cause Balance Deficits in Myotonic Dystrophy 1

"Participants will be tested for their foot dominance by means of the Waterloo footedness questionnaire-revised, their hand dominance by means of the Edinburgh inventory, and their eyedness Coren's Lateral Preference Inventory.~Participants will perform a cervical repositioning test. They will seat in a chair in front of a Plexiglas screen with the eye closed. The operator will guide the participant in four positions: at 30° right/left rotation and at 25° extension/flexion. The participant will be then asked to reproduce the angle. Each movement will be repeated four times in a random order. The whole sequence will be repeated by another second operator. Both the tests will be repeated after two weeks.~Head movements will be detected using an optoelectronic system using passive markers positioned on the head of the participant."

"Clinical evaluation of the participants will be performed by means of the Myotonic Dystrophy Health Index (MDHI), the Rivermead Mobility Index (RMI), the Fall Events Questionnaire, and the Dizziness Handicap Inventory- short form (DHIsf).~Participants will perform a cervical repositioning test. Participants will seat in a chair in front of a Plexiglas screen with the eye closed. The operator will guide the participant in four positions: at 30° right/left rotation and at 25° extension/flexion. The participant will be then asked to reproduce the angle. Each movement will be repeated four times in a random order.~Head movements will be detected using an optoelectronic system using passive markers positioned on the head of the participant.~Participants will then perform test of balance in standing, using the EquiTest platform. Individuals will be requested to perform three different tasks: sensory organization test, adaptation test-upward tilt, and adaptation test-downward tilt."