Purpose: To determine if infants with positional plagiocephaly
have limitations of active and passive cervical range of motion
measured with simple and reliable methods.
Methods: The examiners assessed bilateral active and passive
cervical rotations and passive cervical lateral flexion. Cervical
assessment was performed twice by 2 different physicians to
assess intertester reliability. To assess intratester reliability the
first investigator performed a second examination 48 hours after
the first one.
Results: One-hundred nine subjects were analyzed; 70.7% of the
sample had head positional preference on the right, while 29.3% had
head positional preference on the left (x2 35.52, P <0.001).
Cervical rotations and lateral flexion showed reliable levels of
agreement for intra and intertester reliability.
Conclusions: The most limited range of motion in infants with
positional plagiocephaly was cervical active rotation which affected
more than 90% of patients. Passive cervical rotations and lateral
flexion were limited in more than 60% of patient
