Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate cognitive function in individuals with chronic neck pain (CNP) and investigate the effects of different variables on cognition.
Methods: The sociodemographic characteristics of the individuals who participated in this study were recorded. Pain intensity of the individuals was evaluated using the Visual Analog Scale, pain-related disability was evaluated with the Neck Disability Index and cognitive function was evaluated using Montreal Cognitive Assessment (MoCA).
Results: For this study, 95 patients with CNP were recruited. The mean age was 45.61 ± 11.14, and the median MoCA score was 24 (20-26), and 64.2% of the patients scored below the original cutoff (<26/30 points). The regression analysis showed that higher age and lower education levels were associated with lower MoCA scores. Education appeared to be the most influential variable. Younger participants (18-45) performed systematically better on naming, attention and language domains than their older counterparts (over 45).
Conclusions: The findings suggest that age and education play an important role in MoCA total and domain scores in these patients. While treating these patients, assessment of cognitive function can be useful for effective pain management.
Keywords: Cognition; executive function; neck pain; semantic memory; working memory.