Proposal of a Classification System for Patients With Neck Pain

Exercise Only, Exercise With Mechanical Traction, or Exercise With Over-Door Traction for Patients With Cervical Radiculopathy, With or Without Consideration of Status on a Previously Described Subgrouping Rule: A Randomized Clinical Trial

“…Observational studies and practice guidelines suggest that traction may be most effective in the subgroup of patients with neck pain who exhibit signs of cervical radiculopathy. 6,8,9,16 Raney and colleagues 34 identified even more-specific criteria associated with clinical benefit from treatment that includes cervical traction. Five clinical factors were predictive of benefit: (1) peripheralization of symptoms with lower cervical mobility testing, (2) positive shoulder abduction sign, (3) positive manual distraction test, (4) positive upper-limb tension test, and (5) age of 55 years or older.…”

Physical Therapy Treatment Dose for Nontraumatic Neck Pain: A Comparison Between 2 Patient Groups

“…27 Classification of patients with neck pain as a means of optimizing treatment prescription and estimating prognosis has been a developing theme in the spinal pain literature in recent years. 5,31,33 Identification of more homogeneous study populations enhances the potential to provide targeted interventions and to evaluate treatment responses more specifically. 5,29 The Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders recommended the development of a classification system for spinal pain disorders that was simple and had prognostic utility.…”

“…5,31,33 Identification of more homogeneous study populations enhances the potential to provide targeted interventions and to evaluate treatment responses more specifically. 5,29 The Quebec Task Force on Spinal Disorders recommended the development of a classification system for spinal pain disorders that was simple and had prognostic utility. 30 However, determining a suitable method of classification of neck pain disorders and identification of responders and nonresponders to treatment remains an ongoing challenge.…”

Current Status and Correlates of Physicians' Referral Diagnoses for Physical Therapy

“…Preliminary work regarding disablement-based classification systems for lower back and neck pain show promise for structuring future outcomes studies of individuals with nonspecific diagnoses. 16,26 The high frequency of nonspecific referral diagnoses in patients with spine and upper extremity problems prioritize the development of spine and upper quarter classification schemes.…”