The Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia and neck pain, disability and range of motion: a narrative review of the literature

Background:

The Tampa Scale of Kinesiophobia (TSK) that was developed in 1990 is a 17 item scale originally developed to measure the fear of movement related to chronic lower back pain.

Objective:

To review the literature regarding TSK and neck pain, perceived disability and range of motion of the cervical spine.

Methods:

Medline, MANTIS, Index to Chiropractic Literature and CINAHL were searched.

Results:

A total of 16 related articles were found and divided into four categories: TSK and Neck Pain; TSK, Neck Pain and Disability; TSK, Neck Pain, Disability and Strength; and TSK, Neck Pain and Surface Electromyography.

Conclusion:

The fear avoidance model can be applied to neck pain sufferers and there is value from a psychometric perspective in using the TSK to assess kinesiophobia. Future research should investigate if, and to what extent, other measureable factors commonly associated with neck pain, such as decreased range of motion, correlate with kinesiophobia.