Changes in neck pain and somatic symptoms before and after the adjustment of the pillow height.
Shuori Yamada, Tohru Hoshi, Michio Toda and 3 others
PMID 36744195WHAT IT FOUND
After custom pillow height adjustment, neck pain scores fell from 6.8 to 4.1 over 3 months, and somatic symptom scores fell from 13.2 to 8.2 on a 0 to 32 scale.
Forty-two of 84 patients reached a 3-point pain improvement.
Key findings
01Neck pain scores decreased from 6.8 at baseline to 5.1 at 2 weeks and 4.1 at 3 months, and somatic symptom scores decreased from 13.2 to 9.9 to 8.2 on a 0 to 32 scale.
02Forty-two of 84 patients achieved a 3-point or greater decrease in neck pain scores.
03Patients with higher baseline neck pain scores were more likely to achieve a 3-point or greater improvement; age- and gender-adjusted odds ratio 2.02.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study had no control or comparison group, so it cannot show that the pillow caused the changes. Participants who wanted medication, rehabilitation, or physical therapy were excluded, so the results may not apply to patients who also seek those treatments. Sleep posture and pillow use were only assessed subjectively, not objectively. The study did not compare same pillow height with different shapes, different heights, or different cervical tilt angles. Authors had financial links to pillow companies.
Declared interests
Funding was Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Health, Labour and Welfare No. 21FA0601. SY is a shareholder and chief executive officer of YAMADA SHUORI Pillow Research Institute Co., Ltd. KM is a shareholder and adviser of Trunk Solution CO., Ltd. HO reported grants from companies unrelated to the submitted work. KM also reported grants and personal fees from many companies, some described as unrelated to the submitted work. The other authors had no conflicts directly relevant to the article.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that the pillow height adjustment caused the improvements. This was a one-arm before-and-after study with no control group, and existing medication was continued at a fixed dosage, so the contribution of the pillow alone cannot be separated.