Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of improved and stable patients, and dropouts
| Improved patients (n = 45) | Stable patients (n = 30) | Dropouts (n = 35) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age (years) | 37.7 (12.3) | 39.5 (12.0) | 39.2 (10.1) |
| Duration of chronic pain (months) | 18.5 (9.3–58.5)a | 24.0 (9.0–69.0)a | 18.0 (7.5–48.0)a |
| Sick leave in the past year (weeks) | 18.5 (19.4) | 16.1 (17.6) | 17.5 (20.6) |
| NDI (0–50) | 21 (5.5) | 21 (8.1) | 23 (8.6) |
| NPAD (0–100) | 50 (12.3) | 53 (16.5) | 56 (20.0) |
| VASpain (0–100) | 52 (20.1) | 52 (18.6) | 54 (24.8) |
| Female (%) | 67 | 77 | 49 |
| Pain radiating to (%) | |||
| Shoulder(s) | 82 | 83 | 86 |
| Upper arm(s) | 51 | 40 | 54 |
| Forearm(s) | 33 | 20 | 46 |
| Hand/fingers | 27 | 17 | 40 |
| Between shoulder blades | 47 | 53 | 50 |
| Pins and needles below elbow (%) | 36 | 33 | 38 |
| Concomitant complaints (%) | |||
| Headache | 84 | 63 | 71 |
| Dizziness | 36 | 27 | 35 |
| Concentration problems | 29 | 17 | 12 |
| Nausea | 11 | 13 | 12 |
| Fatigue | 69 | 53 | 62 |
| Low back pain | 33 | 31 | 49 |
| Self reported cause of neck pain (%) | |||
| Motor vehicle accident | 56 | 40 | 37 |
| Other trauma | 9 | 13 | 17 |
| Spontaneously/unknown | 7 | 7 | 9 |
| Stress | 4 | 7 | 6 |
| Work related | 9 | 10 | 14 |
| Other | 16 | 23 | 17 |
| Previous treatment for neck pain (%) | 91 | 93 | 94 |
| Education | |||
| Low | 7 | 0 | 0 |
| Intermediate | 69 | 79 | 82 |
| High | 24 | 21 | 18 |
| Work status (self employed/employee) (%) | 4/78 | 10/80 | 17/60 |
| Involved in litigation (%) | 40 | 27 | 29 |
Values are means (SD) unless otherwise indicated
NPAD Neck Pain and Disability Scale, NDI Neck Disability Index, VAS Visual Analog Scale
aMedian and interquartile range for duration of pain (months)