Prevalence of clinical myelopathic signs and associated factors in neck pain patients: A cross-sectional analytic study
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Abstract
Neck pain symptoms related to cervical myelopathy are commonly assessed by testing for clinical myelopathic signs. These signs could reveal cervical spinal cord irritation or compression. However, there is a paucity of studies related to the prevalence of positive clinical myelopathic signs among neck pain patients. The current study aimed to determine the prevalence of clinical myelopathic signs and associated factors in participants with neck pain. Two hundred eighty participants with neck pain were included to the study; they were aged 20 to 59 years old. Standardized clinical test procedures were undertaken to determine the presence of myelopathic signs. Findings showed the prevalence of clinical myelopathic signs to be: ‘biceps reflex 32.5%, patellar tendon reflex 27.14%, inverted supinator reflex 20.36%, triceps reflex 17.86%, Hoffman sign 15%, Tromner sign 13.57%, Achilles tendon reflex 10.36%, finger escape sign 10% and Babinski sign 3.21%’. The current study found out that smart phone usage ≥4 h per day, an education of university or postgraduate level, and neck pain ≥7 score was associated with clinical myelopathic signs with adjusted odds ratio (OR) (95% confidence interval (CI)) of 2.57 (1.52 to 4.36), 3.35 (1.14 to 9.89), and 2.31 (1.07 to 4.99) respectively. The current study highlighted that prolonged smart phone usage may affect the spinal cord. Long duration smartphone use (³4 h per day) was associated with clinical myelopathic signs. Smartphone users therefore need to keep their duration of smartphone use to less than 4 h per day.
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