Abstract
The physical and biochemical factors related to cervical disc degeneration (CDD), which is involved in several spinal disorders, remain uncertain. We investigated associations between CDD and muscle strength in a general Japanese population. We used mid-sagittal-plane MRIs to assess CDD in 344 subjects recruited from participants in our community health-check project, and measured body mass index (BMI), skeletal muscle index (SMI), and muscle strength in the neck, trunk, hands, and legs. CDD was scored based on the prevalence and severity of intravertebral disc degeneration. Spearman correlation coefficients were used to evaluate whether the SMI or muscle-strength values were correlated with the disc degenerative score. Stepwise multiple linear regression analyses were then conducted with the CDD score as the dependent variable, and age, sex, BMI, and muscle strength as independent variables, for each gender. These analyses used the muscle-strength parameters that were found to be correlated with the CDD scores in the single correlation analyses. The CDD scores were similar in men and women. Men had significantly more muscle strength in the neck, trunk, hands, and legs. There was a significant negative corelation between the CDD score and the trunk strength in both sexes, handgrip in men, and leg strength in women in the single-variable correlation analysis. Including age and the limb- or trunk-muscle strength comprehensively, multiple linear regression analyses showed that age was the strongest factor that was independently associated with CDD in both sexes, and that the effects were attenuated by limb and trunk muscle strength.
Highlights
Chronic neck pain and neck shoulder stiffness are common symptoms in the general population [1]
We showed that the strength of trunk flexion in men and women, hand grip in men, and leg strength in women were negatively correlated with cervical disc degeneration (CDD) scores in single-variable correlation analyses
Multiple linear regression analyses that comprehensively included age and limb or trunk muscle strength showed that age was the strongest independent factor associated with CDD in both sexes, while the associations of limb and trunk muscle strength were attenuated
Summary
Chronic neck pain and neck shoulder stiffness are common symptoms in the general population [1]. One study showed that radiographic degenerative changes in the cervical spine were associated with the severity of neck pain in a general population [2]. Muscle strength and other factors in cervical disc degeneration collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript
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