title: Description of Common Clinical Presentations and Associated Short-Term Physical Therapy Clinical Outcomes in Patients With Neck Pain.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine the effect of clinical presentations of neck pain on short-term physical therapy outcomes.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective analysis of pair-matched groups from a clinical cohort.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirteen outpatient physical therapy clinics in 1 health care system.
  
  
  METHODS
  Patients (N=1069) grouped by common clinical presentations of neck pain: nonspecific neck pain (NSNP) with duration <4 weeks; NSNP with duration >4 weeks; neck pain with arm pain; neck pain with headache; and neck pain from whiplash.
  
  
  METHODS
  Conservative interventions provided by physical therapists.
  
  
  METHODS
  Neck Disability Index (NDI) and numerical pain rating scale (NPRS) recorded at the initial and last visits. The main outcome of interest was achieving recovery status on the NDI. Changes in NDI and NPRS were compared between clinical presentation groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Compared with patients presenting with NSNP >4 weeks, patients with NSNP <4 weeks had increased odds of achieving recovery status on the NDI (P<.0001) and demonstrated the greatest changes in clinical outcomes of pain (P≤.0001) and disability (P≤.0001). Patients with neck pain and arm pain demonstrated an increased odds of achieving recovery status on the NDI (P=.04) compared with patients presenting with NSNP >4 weeks.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treating patients with NSNP within <4 weeks of onset of symptoms may lead to improved clinical outcomes from physical therapy compared with other common clinical presentations.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Langston University, Langston, OK. Electronic address: mehorn@langston.edu.
authors.forename: Maggie E
authors.initials: ME
authors.lastname: Horn
authors.affiliation: Intermountain Healthcare, Salt Lake City, UT.
authors.forename: Gerard P
authors.initials: GP
authors.lastname: Brennan
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, Brooks-PHHP Research Collaboration, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Steven Z
authors.initials: SZ
authors.lastname: George
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Services Research, Management and Policy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Jeffrey S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Harman
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Therapy, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL.
authors.forename: Mark D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Bishop
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D019547:Neck Pain / Q000534:rehabilitation*; D010043:Outcome and Process Assessment, Health Care; D010147:Pain Measurement; D026741:Physical Therapy Modalities; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D013997:Time Factors; D014589:Utah
keywords: Disability evaluation; Neck pain; Outcome assessment (health care); Rehabilitation