Neck pain in adults: impact on quality of life

To evaluate the impact of neck pain on quality of life in a population sample of adults aged 20 years or older. Randomized cross-sectional study based on a population survey. A total of 600 individuals were interviewed and the following data were collected: 1. Characteristics of participants (pre-coded questionnaire); 2. Quality of life (SF-36); 3.Musculoskeletal symptoms (Nordic questionnaire); 4. Level of physical activity (IPAC). 20.3% of the individuals (CI 17.3 to 23.7) had reported neck pain at least once in the 12 months preceding the interview. From these, 18.0% (CI 14.0 to 22.7) were men and 22.7% (CI 18.2 to 27.7) were women; subjects with neck pain had significantly worse (lower) scores on all SF-36 subscales than did subjects without pain; females had lower scores as compared to males. Neck pain has a high prevalence in the city of Bauru and the neck pain had a significant association to quality of life.