Neck pain is one of the most common debilitating musculoskeletal complaints affecting the population (Hoy et al. 2014). In the 2015 Global Burden of Disease report, low back pain and neck pain were the leading causes of disability (Vos et al. 2016). Hoy et al. (2014:1309) defined neck pain as ‘pain in the neck with or without referred pain into one or both upper limbs’ and performed a systematic review to evaluate incidence, prevalence, duration and mortality risk of neck pain.

The considerable burden of disease from neck pain necessitates the effective translation of research findings into clinical practice. This article aims to give an overview of the prevalence of neck pain and physiotherapy management of neck pain and to make evidence-informed recommendations for application into clinical practice within a South African context.

From systematic review data, the prevalence of neck pain over a 12-month period was documented as 30% – 50% (Hogg-Johnson et al. 2008), with a point prevalence of 4.7% and a lifetime prevalence of 14.2% – 70% dependent on the country where it was measured (Hoy et al. 2014). The point prevalence of neck pain in the sub-Saharan Southern Africa region is high (males 4.7%; females 6.7%) and is only outranked by the United States (males 5.3%; females 7.6%), Western Europe (males 5.2%; females 7.4%) and East Asia (males 4.8%; females 7.0%) (Hoy et al. 2014; Vos et al. 2012). There was also a significant increase of neck pain prevalence between 1990 and 2015 (Hurwitz et al. 2018). Possible reasons cited for the increase in neck pain are an ageing population and increasing obesity (Hurwitz et al. 2018). From estimates for the global burden of neck pain (2000–2010), it was found that neck pain is more prevalent in women compared to men and peaks between 40 and 50 years of age (Hoy et al. 2014).

Few studies exist on the incidence of neck pain in the South African population (Brink et al. 2009; Mafanya & Rhoda 2011; Smith et al. 2009). Most of these only included an adolescent population. In a study of risk factors for developing neck pain amongst 181 adolescents in South Africa (SA), the incidence of neck pain was 53.7% (Mafanya & Rhoda 2011). Smith et al. (2009) reported a 20% incidence of neck pain in adolescent computer users (n = 1073), and similarly an incidence of 26% of neck pain was documented in a study on the sitting posture of South African adolescents (Brink et al. 2009). The incidence of musculoskeletal disorders of office workers in a private hospital in SA (Zungu & Ndaba 2009) was found to be 76% musculoskeletal complaints, with low back pain being the most common complaint followed by neck pain. In private physiotherapy practices in Pretoria, 46% of the musculoskeletal complaints seen by physiotherapists were patients with neck pain (Basson et al. 2017b).

Estimates of the burden of disease for SA in 2000 ranked musculoskeletal disorders 20th (Bradshaw et al. 2003), and the World Health Organization (2010) ranks it 16th from a more recent fact sheet on health statistics (1990–2008). In a primary care setting in SA, neck pain is ranked 34th as a main complaint for consultation (Mash et al. 2012). According to Rice, Smith and Blyth (2016), there is little information available for sub-Saharan Southern Africa in terms of the global burden of pain. The lack of data may be part of the reason for the large discrepancy in the ranking of musculoskeletal diseases in SA compared to the global burden of disease (Hoy et al. 2014; Vos et al. 2012).

The majority (84%) of the South African population use public health care. These facilities are often understaffed with limited resources (Ranchod et al. 2017). Prolonged waiting times in the public sector, mainly because of resource limitations, play a major role in the effective management of patients with neck pain (Hasumi & Jacobsen 2014). Access to public health care facilities depends on the area, with access often limited in rural areas because of distance from a facility and transport difficulties (National Department of Health 2015). Therefore, access to physiotherapy is also limited. There are 7698 physiotherapists registered in SA (Health Professions Council of South Africa 2018) of whom only 1258 are employed in public health care (National Department of Health 2015). Furthermore, of the 4595 physiotherapists who are members of the South African Society of Physiotherapists (SASP), 3671 work in the private sector (SASP data November 2017). Access to the private sector requires self-payment or membership of a medical insurance scheme. It could therefore be hypothesised that the majority of South African society will not have easy access to public health care facilities and physiotherapy management for neck pain. This may change when the National Health Insurance (NHI) is adopted (National Department of Health 2016) as it aims to make essential health care available to all South African citizens.

The Bone and Joint decade task force on neck pain and the Global Spine Care Initiative classify neck pain into four grades using a best evidence synthesis (Guzman et al. 2009; Haldeman et al. 2018) (S21 & S889).

Grade I – neck pain with no signs of major pathology and no or little interference with daily activities; Grade II – neck pain with no signs of major pathology, but interference with daily activities; Grade III – neck pain with neurologic signs of nerve compression; Grade IV – neck pain with signs of major pathology.

This classification system is also used in the recently updated Dutch clinical guidelines for neck pain (Bier et al. 2018). In contrast, the American Physical Therapist Association (APTA) clinical guidelines use a different classification system, namely neck pain with mobility difficulties; neck pain with movement control difficulties; neck pain with radiating pain; and neck pain with headache (Blanpied et al. 2017). For the purpose of this article, we will use the Global Spine Care Initiative definition (Haldeman et al. 2018) rather than the APTA classification (Blanpied et al. 2017), as it can be difficult to differentiate between mobility problems and control problems and they often overlap. We will also briefly discuss neck pain associated with headache and neck pain because of whiplash injury.

Three trajectories of recovery from neck pain have been identified (Van Hulst et al. 2016; Walton et al. 2014a). Rapid recovery over a month period is present in 19.6% of the neck pain population, 65.8% of patients have a modest rate of recovery (i.e. a non-significant decrease in pain and disability over a month period) and 14.6% have a pattern of worsening symptoms (Walton et al. 2014a). First onset neck pain tends to improve in the first 6 weeks after which symptoms often remain unchanged at 12-month follow-up (Hush et al. 2011; Vasseljen et al. 2013). Therefore, only around 20% of the neck pain population will recover well, and overall, the prognosis of acute neck pain is poor according to a systematic review and meta-analysis (Hush et al. 2011). At 12-month follow-up, the majority of patients still present with high pain severity and disability (Hush et al. 2011). A number of factors have high to moderate predictive power for the development of chronic pain (Walton et al. 2013).

Risk factors for first onset neck pain were found to be working in awkward positions (OR 1.65; 95%CI 1.04–2.60), sustained positions (OR 1.80; 95%CI 1.16–2.81) and psychosocial factors such as high job demands (RR 2.14; 95%CI 1.28–3.58) and co-worker support (RR 2.43; 95%CI 1.11–5.29) (Kim et al. 2018). Risk factors for poor prognosis from neck pain at baseline are high levels of pain (OR 5.61, 95%CI 3.74–8.43) and disability (NDI > 15/50; OR 42.18) at baseline (Walton et al. 2013). Other studies have highlighted the importance of psychosocial factors such as catastrophising (Karels et al. 2007; Thompson et al. 2010) and fear-avoidance beliefs (Karels et al. 2007; Pool et al. 2010) as risk factors for chronicity.

Social factors such as work–family imbalance and a hostile work environment have also been linked to a high prevalence of neck pain (Yang et al. 2016). In working populations, high job strain (OR 1.5 [95% CI 1.0 to 2.4]) and sleep disturbances (OR 2.2 [95% CI 1.6 to 3.0]) are associated with chronic neck pain (Rasmussen-Barr et al. 2014). Non-modifiable risk factors identified are being female and of older age (Walton et al. 2013). Longer duration of symptoms, absence of paraesthesia, a high neck pain intensity, disability at baseline and restricted range of movement (ROM) towards the affected side are found to be factors related to poor recovery of pain and disability (median under the curve 0.75–0.79) in cervical radiculopathy, a subgroup of neck pain (Sleijser‑Koehorst et al. 2018).

Neck pain is often associated with headache, upper back and shoulder or arm pain (Lindgren 2008; Salt et al. 2011). In a study of over 1800 patients, only 36% presented with neck pain alone and the remainder of the population had neck pain and radiating arm pain (Rasmussen et al. 2015). Radiating neck and arm pain and headache can have a negative impact on disability and quality of life (Daffner et al. 2003; De Pauw et al. 2015). Neuropathic pain is often present in patients with cervical radiculopathy (Tampin, Slater & Briffa 2013) and whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) (Sterling & Pedler 2009). On the website of the International Association for the Study of Pain, neuropathic pain is described as ‘pain initiated or caused by a primary lesion or dysfunction in the nervous system’ (International Association for the Study of Pain 2011). The presence of neuropathic pain has a negative impact on quality of life (Doth et al. 2010; Smart et al. 2012; Smith et al. 2007) and is also associated with disability and poor treatment outcomes (Blyth 2017; Doth et al. 2010). Table 1 summarises the risk factors for poor recovery reported by Jakobsen et al. (2018), Kim et al. (2018) and Walton et al. (2013).

Sound clinical reasoning is important to guide decision-making (Bier et al. 2018; Edwards et al. 2004; Rushton et al. 2014), and critical use of evidence should underpin the clinical reasoning process. According to Sackett et al. (1996), evidence-informed practice takes into account the best current research evidence, clinical expertise and patient preferences. Before deciding on management options, it is necessary to exclude serious pathology (Guzman et al. 2009) and refer patients with red flags for further investigation or to another health care practitioner. It is also important to determine whether the pain is acute (< 6 weeks since onset), sub-acute (6–12 weeks since onset) or chronic in nature (> 3 months duration). The treatment approach may differ between a patient with acute neck pain and one with chronic neck pain. The management of chronic pain is often more complex and can be treatment resistant (Cohen & Hooten 2017). Planning of the patient assessment is shown in Figure 1, while the various components that form part of the patient examination are shown in Figure 2.

The above process of examination enables a working hypothesis for diagnosis to enable the development of an individual patient management plan. Most guidelines recommend a combination of treatment modalities in the management of neck pain (Bier et al. 2018; Blanpied et al. 2017; Bussières et al. 2016; Childs et al. 2008; Cohen & Hooten 2017). The management options discussed below are derived from clinical practice guidelines (Bier et al. 2018; Blanpied et al. 2017), systematic reviews and randomised clinical trials. Table 2 outlines the levels of evidence used (Phillips et al. 2009).

It is also important to differentiate between acute and chronic pain as this will determine the treatment approach (Grichnik & Ferrante 1991). Acute and sub-acute pain is described as the pain caused by an injury or disease and of recent onset. Chronic pain is pain that has been present for longer than 3 months and persists past normal tissue healing (Merskey & Bogduk 2011). In acute pain, treatment is aimed at the underlying cause, while treatment of chronic pain should be multimodal in nature (Grichnik & Ferrante 1991).

Physiotherapists in the private sector will be in a position to use different modalities taking into consideration patient preference and available evidence. However, in the public sector, where physiotherapists will often only see a patient once, the aim should be to provide exercises and information on self-management. For both the private and public sector, the ultimate aim should be for the patient to manage a chronic condition independently and to reduce the risk of recurrences in the case of an acute or sub-acute condition. Aligning the patient management approach to the South African context is crucial.

South Africa has a unique multicultural landscape which calls for addressing the associated challenges surrounding communicative competence with regard to improving interviewing and counselling skills, intercultural and gender competencies, and linguistic and interpretation skills (Grant 2006). The management strategies to be considered for patients with neck pain are shown in Figure 3.

There is a dearth of information on neck pain prevalence and physiotherapy management in a South African context. There is a need for the development of culturally appropriate PROMs in different languages to assist in the assessment of patients. Risk factors for the development of neck pain and disability may differ in a multicultural environment (Geere et al. 2018) and should be further explored. Furthermore, the ideal management of neck pain in terms of patient outcomes and economic viability in a culturally diverse environment deserves urgent attention.

Physiotherapists should use sound clinical reasoning to inform decisions pertaining to a working hypothesis and patient management in a patient-centred manner taking into account available evidence. The burden of neck pain globally is high; however, there is a lack of information on current practice, prevalence and burden in the South African context. The need for research on the prevalence and management of neck pain in SA is evident.

In summary: