Neck pain has a life-time prevalence of 70% with a point-prevalence of 20% amongst the Dutch population.
It’s important to differentiate between a normal an abnormal course of neck pain:
- Normal: 45% pain reduction within 6 weeks after onset
- Abnormal: Less than 45% reduction within 6 weeks after onset
Neck pain has a high recurrence with 50-85% within 5 years after the first episode.
The guideline categorizes neck pain according to different grades:
- Grade I: Neck pain without signs & symptoms of serious pathology and no or mild influence on activities of daily living (ADLs)Grade II: Neck pain without signs & symptoms of serious pathology and strong influence on activities of daily living (ADLs)
- Grade III: Neck pain without signs & symptoms of serious pathology, but neurological signs & symptoms
- Grade IV: Neck pain with serious signs & symptoms
Furthermore, the guideline distinguishes between work-related and trauma-related neck pain.
There are several factors that can impair the recovery, which are summarized in the following table:
- ‘-‘ means that the recovery will be negatively influenced
- ‘O‘ means that there is no association with delayed recovery
- Empty cells means that no evidence is available
| Study | |||||
| KNGF (2016) | |||||
| Comment: This guideline is only available in Dutch at the moment. | |||||
