Association between neck pain and cervical spine curve

English Keywords:Neck pain  Cervical curve  Cervical sagittal angle  Numeric rating scales scores  Correlation

English Abstract:

  【Abstract】　Objective：To investigate the association between neck pain and cervical spine curve.Method：121 patients（56 males and 65 females） with neck pain in our out-patients from June 2009 to April 2011 were reviewed retrospectively.All patients had an average age of 51.2±17.7 years（range，17 to 79 years），and all cases were evaluated by Numeric rating scales（NRS） scores and grouped according to cervical curve under X-rays（lordosis，straight，kyphosis and "S" shape group）.The severity of neck pain was recorded，and its relationship with cervical curve type was analyzed.Result：Of 121 cases，37，26，31 and 27 cases were in lordosis，straight，kyphosis and "S" shape group respectively.The NRS scores were 4.81±1.90，5.63±3.64，5.15±2.47 and 6.81±4.65 for 4 groups respectively.Compared with lordosis group，patients in straight and "S" shape group had more severe neck pain（P<0.05），while other groups showed no intergroup difference（P＞0.05）.The severity of neck pain showed weak negative correlation with the cervical curve（r=－0.218，P=0.039）.Conclusion：The severity of neck pain associates with cervical spine curve，so recovery of cervical spine curve is critical in managing cervical spine disorders.