{ "abstract": "Study Design: Prospective multicenter cohort study.\n\nObjectives: To examine associations between improvements in arm pain, neck pain, numbness, and patient satisfaction during pharmacological treatment of cervical spine disorders.\n\nMethods: Of 256 patients with cervical spine disorders and upper extremity symptoms enrolled at 28 institutions, 220 patients (830 observations) were included. A generalized estimating equation with cluster-robust variance regressed satisfaction (5-point Likert; satisfied ≥4) on improvement in arm pain, neck pain, and numbness (NRS 0–10), adjusting for psychosocial burden (BS-POP), age, sex, and time point. An ordinal model was used as an alternative outcome specification, and sensitivity analyses were interpreted descriptively.\n\nResults: Arm pain improvement was associated with satisfaction under both binary (OR 1.095 per point, P=.022; Holm-adjusted P=.044) and ordinal (OR 1.143, P=.019) coding. Neck pain improvement was associated with satisfaction under binary coding only (OR 1.121, P=.003; Holm-adjusted P=.009; ordinal P=.447). Numbness improvement showed the same direction but was not significant in either specification (OR 1.068, P=.106; ordinal P=.377). Confidence intervals overlapped across domains, and the arm pain estimate was attenuated under inverse-probability weighting and in diagnostic subsets. Approximately one-third of observations with persistent numbness had satisfaction scores ≥4.\n\nConclusions: Arm pain improvement was consistently associated with greater satisfaction, whereas the association with numbness improvement was less consistent. Residual numbness alone should not be considered treatment failure and should be interpreted alongside pain relief, neurological findings, and overall clinical condition. These findings support multidimensional assessment of treatment response rather than reliance on residual numbness alone in clinical practice.", "abstract_shown": true, "affiliations": [ "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Nagoya University Graduate School of Medicine, Nagoya, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Aichi Medical University, Nagakute, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chiba University, School of Medicine, Chiba, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Science Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Hamamatsu, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokuyama Central Hospital, Shunan, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kobe Rosai Hospital, Kobe, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Kitasato University, School of Medicine, Sagamihara, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chubu Rosai Hospital, Nagoya, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Gunma University, School of Medicine, Maebashi, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Niigata University Medical and Dental Hospital, Niigata, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Japanese Red Cross Aichi Medical Center Nagoya Daini Hospital, Nagoya, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Konan Kosei Hospital, Konan, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, Oita University, Yufu, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, School of Medicine, International University of Health and Welfare, Narita, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Keio University, School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Hokkaido University, School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Akita University, School of Medicine, Akita, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Institute of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan", "Department of Spine and Joint Reconstruction, Shiga University of Medical Science, Otsu, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Metropolitan University, School of Medicine, Osaka, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Osaka Rosai Hospital, Osaka, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Saiseikai Wakayama Hospital, Wakayama, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Yamanashi Interdisciplinary Graduate School, Chuo, Japan", "Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tokai University, School of Medicine, Isehara, Japan" ], "article_type": "research article", "arxiv": null, "author_total": 37, "authors": [ { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Hiroaki Nakashima", "orcid": "0000-0002-0039-9678" }, { "affs": [ 1 ], "name": "Norimitsu Wakao" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Sadayuki Ito" }, { "affs": [ 2 ], "name": "Takeo Furuya" }, { "affs": [ 3 ], "name": "Toshitaka Yoshii", "orcid": "0000-0003-3511-9020" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Hideyuki Arima", "orcid": "0000-0003-0586-6818" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Yu Yamato", "orcid": "0000-0002-4701-8211" }, { "affs": [ 0 ], "name": "Shiro Imagama", "orcid": "0000-0002-6951-8575" }, { "affs": [ 5 ], "name": "Yasuaki Imajo", "orcid": "0000-0003-1291-745X" }, { "affs": [ 6 ], "name": "Hiroshi Miyamoto" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Gen Inoue", "orcid": "0000-0001-6500-9004" }, { "affs": [ 7 ], "name": "Masayuki Miyagi" }, { "affs": [ 8 ], "name": "Shunsuke Kanbara" }, { "affs": [ 9 ], "name": "Yoichi Iizuka" }, { "affs": [ 9 ], "name": "Hirotaka Chikuda" }, { "affs": [ 10 ], "name": "Kei Watanabe" }, { "affs": [ 11 ], "name": "Kazuyoshi Kobayashi", "orcid": "0000-0003-1533-3476" }, { "affs": [ 12 ], "name": "Mikito Tsushima" }, { "affs": [ 13 ], "name": "Masashi Miyazaki" }, { "affs": [ 14 ], "name": "Mitsuru Yagi" }, { "affs": [ 15 ], "name": "Satoshi Suzuki" }, { "affs": [ 16 ], "name": "Masahiko Takahata" }, { "affs": [ 17 ], "name": "Michio Hongo" }, { "affs": [ 18 ], "name": "Masao Koda", "orcid": "0000-0003-0982-5386" }, { "affs": [ 19 ], "name": "Keiji Nagata" }, { "affs": [ 20 ], "name": "Kanji Mori", "orcid": "0000-0002-1975-2339" }, { "affs": [ 21 ], "name": "Akinobu Suzuki" }, { "affs": [ 22 ], "name": "Takashi Kaito", "orcid": "0000-0003-4882-2997" }, { "affs": [ 17 ], "name": "Naohisa Miyakoshi" }, { "affs": [ 19 ], "name": "Hiroshi Hashizume" }, { "affs": [ 4 ], "name": "Yukihiro Matsuyama" }, { "affs": [ 23 ], "name": "Mamoru Kawakami" }, { "affs": [ 24 ], "name": "Hirotaka Haro" }, { "affs": [ 15 ], "name": "Masaya Nakamura" }, { "affs": [ 25 ], "name": "Masahiko Watanabe" }, { "name": "The Project Committee of the Japanese Society for Spine Surgery" }, { "name": "Related Research (JSSR)" } ], "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8ryf6mswt5y7.bib", "cited_by": 0, "doi": "10.1177/21925682261493432", "fulltext_url": "https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13724182/", "id": "c8ryf6mswt5y7", "issns": [ "2192-5682", "2192-5690" ], "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682261493432", "language": "en", "licence": "CC-BY-NC-ND-4.0", "licence_label": "CC BY-NC-ND 4.0", "licence_source": "article", "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/", "metadata_licence": null, "native_subjects": [ [ "heading", "Original Research" ], [ "openalex", "2736|Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation" ] ], "openalex": "W7224869755", "pdf_url": null, "pmcid": "PMC13724182", "pmid": "42960917", "published": "2026-10-30", "publisher": "SAGE Publications", "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8ryf6mswt5y7.ris", "sources": [ { "first_seen": "2026-11-04T12:22:41Z", "native_id": "PMC13724182", "source": "pmc", "url": "https://doi.org/10.1177/21925682261493432" } ], "subjects": [ { "field": "medicine", "origin": "openalex:2736|Musculoskeletal pain and rehabilitation", "subfield": "pharmacology-toxicology" } ], "title": "Association of Arm Pain, Neck Pain, and Numbness Improvement with Patient Satisfaction During Pharmacological Treatment for Cervical Spine Disorders: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study", "title_text": "Association of Arm Pain, Neck Pain, and Numbness Improvement with Patient Satisfaction During Pharmacological Treatment for Cervical Spine Disorders: A Prospective Multicenter Cohort Study", "type": "peer-reviewed", "updated_at": "2026-11-04T12:22:41Z", "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/c8ryf6mswt5y7", "venue": "Global Spine Journal", "versions": [] }