title: The Relationship between Neck Pain and Cervical Alignment in Young Female Nursing Staff.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Degenerative changes in the cervical spine are commonly accompanied by cervical kyphosis which can cause neck pain. This study examined the relationship between neck pain and cervical alignment.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 323 female nursing staff from our hospital were enrolled. Sagittal radiographs of the cervical spine, Body Mass Index (BMI), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) measures of neck and arm pain, Neck Disability Index (NDI) and the Short Form (36) Health Survey (SF-36 scores) were obtained and reviewed retrospectively. Global lordosis (GL) of the cervical spine was measured on radiograph images. Correlations between GL and questionnaire scores were investigated using the following three methods : 1) correlation between GL and questionnaire scores among the entire sample; 2) subgroup analysis of patients with "kyphosis (KYP) : GL scores<0" vs. those with "lordosis (LOR) : GL scores>0" on questionnaire measures; and 3) subgroup analysis of patients with pain vs. those without pain, on GL and questionnaire measures.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There was no significant correlation between GL and any questionnaire measure. There was a significant difference between the mean GLs of the KYP and LOR groups, but there were no group differences in BMI, age or any questionnaire measures. There was no difference between the pain (n=92) and pain-free (n=231) groups in age, BMI or GL, but there were differences in neck, and arm pain, and physical function and NDI scores.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our data suggest that kyphotic deformity was not associated with neck pain.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jang-Hun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Joo Han
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Jong-Hyun
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Taek-Hyun
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Kwon
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Yoon-Kwan
authors.initials: YK
authors.lastname: Park
authors.affiliation: Department of Neurosurgery, Guro Hospital, Korea University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.
authors.forename: Hong Joo
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Moon
keywords: Alignment; Cervical pain; Kyphosis; Lordosis; Neck pain; Nursing staff