Waking cervical pain and stiffness, headache, scapular or arm pain: gender and age effects

A random population-based study using a structured telephone questionnaire was undertaken to determine the frequency, duration and prevalence of waking cervical spine pain and stiffness, headache, and aching between the scapulae or in the arm and their relationship to age and gender. Seventy-six per cent of households contacted completed the questionnaire, yielding a total of 812 questionnaires. Subjects most commonly reported waking with scapular or arm pain (27%) followed by headache (19%), cervical pain (18%) and cervical stiffness (17%). The majority of subjects reported that symptoms lasted for more than an hour on one or two occasions during the week. Subjects who reported the presence of one type of waking symptom were significantly more likely to report other waking symptoms. Females were significantly more likely to wake with a headache than males (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.6 to 4.0), while all subjects aged over 60 years were significantly less likely to wake with a headache than subjects in other age groups (OR 0.6, 95% CI 0.4 to 1.0). Females exhibited a decline in waking cervical pain, stiffness and headache with increasing age. In contrast, males exhibited a peak prevalence of waking cervical pain, stiffness and headache in the 40 to 59 year age group. The prevalence of waking with aching between the scapulae or in the arm behaved differently from the other symptom groups in both genders.