J Korean Med Sci.  2013 May;28(5):680-686. 10.3346/jkms.2013.28.5.680.

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

• Son KM
• Cho NH
• Lim SH
• Kim HA

• KMID: 1777554
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3346/jkms.2013.28.5.680

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.

Keyword

Neck Pain; Prevalence; Risk Factors

MeSH Terms

Adult
Aged
Asian Continental Ancestry Group
Female
Humans
Male
Mental Health
Middle Aged
Neck Pain/complications/*epidemiology
Obesity/complications/diagnosis
Odds Ratio
Prevalence
Questionnaires
Republic of Korea/epidemiology
Risk Factors
Rural Population
Severity of Illness Index
Sex Factors
Smoking

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Life time and point prevalence of neck pain according to age and gender.

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  Fig. 2 The distribution of severe neck pain severity grade over previous 6 months according to age and gender.

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