Frequency of cervical radiculopathy among patients with chronic cervical pain in Lahore Pakistan

OBJECTIVE To determine the frequency of cervical radiculopathy in cases of non-traumatic chronic neck pain. METHODS The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted from September 2015 to February 2016 at the Department of Physiotherapy, Azra Naheed Medical College, Superior University, Lahore and comprised patients of either gender aged 20-50 years with chronic neck pain lasting more than 6 months. Data was collected using a 14-point self-administered questionnaire. Spurling test was applied to find out the occurrence of radiculopathy in chronic neck pain and the intensity of pain was rated using visual analogue scale. Data was analysed using SPSS 21. RESULTS Of the 196 patients, 135(68.9%) were females and 61(31.1%) were males. The largest age group was 20-30 years with 75(38.3%) patients. Also, 46(23.5%) patients had no neck pain, 144(73.5%) had moderate pain and 6(3.1%) had unbearable pain. Radiculopathy was negative in 84(42.9%) patients and positive in 112(57.1%). CONCLUSIONS Cervical radiculopathy was found to be associated with chronic neck pain.