Healthcare Provider Perspectives of Various Signs and Symptoms for Diagnosing Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of an International, Multidisciplinary Survey
Date
Authors
Burn, Lance
Rujeedawa, Tanzil
Lalkhen, Abdul
Martin, Allan
MacDowall, Anna
Kwon, Brian K
Zipser, Carl M
Treanor, Caroline
Anderson, David B
Martin-Moore, Esther
Supervisor
Item type
Journal Article
Degree name
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley
Abstract
Introduction/Aims: Diagnosis of degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM) is frequently delayed. A lack of awareness and standardized screening criteria have been identified as major contributors. The objective of this study was to conduct a survey of international experts to determine the value of various signs and symptoms in diagnosing patients with DCM. This study forms part of a three-step initiative that aims to develop pragmatic screening criteria for DCM. Methods: An open voluntary English-language Likert scale survey was disseminated among international networks of experts in DCM. Respondents were asked to rank each sign or symptom on a scale of 0 (not important at all) to 10 (extremely important); a mean value of ≥ 6.5 was set a priori as the threshold to consider a feature as having significant diagnostic value. Results: Fifteen symptoms and 12 signs were ranked as having significant diagnostic value. The most highly ranked symptoms are primarily related to abnormalities of the upper limb, hand function, and gait. The top-rated signs included pathological reflexes as well as impairment of motor function, gait, and coordination. Features ranked as significant were largely consistent across professions, levels of experience, and continental regions. Discussion: The integration of expert stakeholder opinion with evidence from existing literature strengthens the clinical framework for identifying key clinical features of DCM. These 27 features will be discussed at an international consensus meeting to establish a standardized clinical screening toolkit that can be used by frontline healthcare professionals to detect patients with DCM.Description
Keywords
DCM, degenerative cervical myelopathy, diagnostic, myelopathy, survey, AO Spine RECODE‐DCM Diagnostic Criteria Incubator, 31 Biological Sciences, 32 Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Health Services, Clinical Research, Rare Diseases, 4.2 Evaluation of markers and technologies, 7.3 Management and decision making, 11 Medical and Health Sciences, Neurology & Neurosurgery, 31 Biological sciences, 32 Biomedical and clinical sciences
Source
Muscle and Nerve, ISSN: 0148-639X (Print); 1097-4598 (Online), Wiley, 73(2), 260-268. doi: 10.1002/mus.70068
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This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited and is not used for commercial purposes. © 2025 The Author(s). Muscle & Nerve published by Wiley Periodicals LLC.