Investigating Cervical Degenerative Disc Disease: An Iranian Population-based Demographic Analysis

Background and objectives: degenerative cervical disease is one of the most common causesof referral to health centers and imposes a heavy burden on health systems. with the increase inlife expectancy and the increase in the elderly population in iran, similar to other countries, theprevalence of this disorder has increased significantly. this study investigates the demographicand radiological findings in patients with degenerative cervical disease who underwent surgeryfor the first time in iran.methods: in this cross-sectional study, the medical profiles of 301 patients with a definitivediagnosis of degenerative cervical disease who underwent surgery in shafa yahyaeian hospitalin tehran from 2010 to 2019 were reviewed. the demographic characteristics and radiographicfindings of the patients were extracted by referring to the patient’s medical profiles using achecklist.results: the mean age of the patients was 51.12 ±11.2 years. a total of 202 (67.1%) were women.the mean body mass index was 27.1±3.11 kg/m2. a history of neck surgery was reported in 6%of patients. meanwhile, 51.6% of patients had education higher than a diploma, more than halfof the patients were employees, and in 147(48.8%) of the patients, the c5/c6 level was involved.c6/c7 and c4/c5 level involvement were 68(22.6%) and 56(18.6%), respectively.conclusion: this study showed that the frequency of cervical discs in women was highercompared to men, especially in the fifth and sixth decades of life. based on radiological findings,c5 and c6 were the most common levels of involvement. the prevalence of cervical disc diseasewas higher in people with higher education as well as employees than in other professions.