Prevalence and Risk Factor of Neck Pain in Elderly Korean Community Residents

Abstract

Neck pain is a common musculoskeletal condition, which causes substantial medical cost. In Korea, prevalence of neck pain in community based population, especially in elderly subjects, has scarcely been reported. We evaluated the prevalence, the severity and the risk factors of neck pain in elderly Korean community residents. Data for neck pain were collected for 1,655 subjects from a rural farming community. The point, 6-months and cumulative lifetime prevalence of neck pain was obtained in addition to the measurement of the severity of neck pain. The mean age of the study subjects was 61 yr and 57% were females. The lifetime prevalence of neck pain was 20.8% with women having a higher prevalence. The prevalence did not increase with age, and the majority of individuals had low-intensity/low-disability pain. Subjects with neck pain had a significantly worse SF-12 score in all domains except for mental health. The prevalence of neck pain was significantly associated with female gender, obesity and smoking. This is the first large-scale Korean study estimating the prevalence of neck pain in elderly population. Although the majority of individuals had low-intensity/low-disability pain, subjects with neck pain had a significantly worse SF-12 score indicating that neck pain has significant health impact.

Epidemiology, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Neck Pain

“…For obesity, the results of epidemiological studies have usually but not always found a positive association between neck and shoulder pain and body mass index. 3,[6][7][8][9] Some of the reasons why obese individuals may be predisposed to neck pain include elevated systemic inflammation, deleterious structural changes, increased mechanical stress and ground reaction force, diminished muscle strength, more psychosocial issues, and greater disability related to kinesiophobia compared with nonoverweight people. 10 Unique risk factors for neck pain include trauma (eg, traumatic brain and whiplash injuries) and certain sports injuries (eg, wrestling, ice hockey, football).…”

Bee venom acupuncture, NSAIDs or combined treatment for chronic neck pain: study protocol for a randomized, assessor-blind trial

“…In Korea, the cumulative lifetime prevalence of CNP is 20.8% [2]. CNP causes a significant socioeconomic impact related not only to direct medical costs, but also indirect health care costs and loss of productive capacity [1,3,4].…”

Management of patients with neck pain

“…В большинстве эпидемиологических исследований ежегодная заболевае-мость оценивается в 15-50% (в среднем -37,2%) [2,3]. Около 70% людей хотя бы раз в жизни испытывали боль в шее [3]. В большинстве случаев острые эпизоды цервикал-гии разрешаются самостоятельно или на фоне лечения.…”

“…Тем не менее примерно 50-75% пациентов на протяжении пос-ледующих лет отмечают повторение боли в шее [4]. Церви-калгией наиболее часто страдают женщины 35-49 лет [3]. С возрастом частота обострений значительно увеличивается [4].…”