Gradation of neck muscle responses and head / neck kinematics to acceleration and speed change in rear-end collisions.

Recent epidemiological evidence shows that the potential for whiplash injury varies with both the average acceleration and speed change of a rear-end collision. The goal of this study was to examine the gradation of neck muscle responses and the head and neck kinematics to rear-end collision pulses in which the acceleration and speed change were independently varied. The results showed that the amplitude of the muscle and kinematics responses was graded to both collision acceleration and speed change. (Author/publisher)