Prevalence and morbidity of neck pain: a cross-sectional study of 3000 elderly men

The purpose of this study is to determine the prevalence and morbidity of neck pain with or without cervical rhizopathy, upper extremity motor deficit and/or thoracolumbar pain in elderly men. We conducted a cross-sectional questionnaire study of 3,000 community-dwelling older men with a mean age of 75.4 ± 3.2 years (range 69-81) to determine if they had experienced neck pain with or without cervical rhizopathy/upper extremity motor deficit/thoracolumbar pain (yes/no) during the preceding 12 months, and if so, morbidity with the condition (no/minor/moderate/severe). Among the participants, 865 (29%) reported they had experienced neck and 1,619 (54%) thoracolumbar pain. Among the men with neck pain, 59% had experienced only neck pain, 17% neck pain and cervical rhizopathy and 24% neck pain, rhizopathy and motor deficit. For men with only neck pain, the morbidity was severe in 13%, for men with neck pain and rhizopathy it was 24%, and for men with pain, rhizopathy and motor deficit it was 46% (p