The evaluation of cervical spinal angle in patients with acute and chronic neck pain

Clinicians associate the changes in cervical lordosis with neck pain, but there is no clear consensus on this. We aimed to investigate the relationships of cervical angles, neck pain, disability, and the psychological status of the patients with acute and chronic neck pain.

A total of 110 patients with neck pain were included in this study. Demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients were recorded. The lordosis angle was determined by the posterior tangent method. A visual analog scale (VAS), the Neck Disability Index (NDI), and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression (HAD) scale were administered to all patients.

The mean cervical lordosis angle was 23.10 ± 8.07 degrees. A statistically negative correlation was detected between cervical angle and duration of disease (P < 0.05). The cervical angle of the acute neck pain group was higher than that of the chronic pain group (P < 0.05). There was no difference between the acute and chronic neck pain groups with respect to VAS, NDI, and HAD scores (P > 0.05).

We found that the cervical angle was significantly lower in chronic neck pain patients when compared to acute patients, and patients with higher pain scores had more severe disability and that disability increased with the duration of disease.