Evidence map›Paper›PMID 41334975›Full record

ArticleMuscle & nerve2026

Healthcare Provider Perspectives of Various Signs and Symptoms for Diagnosing Degenerative Cervical Myelopathy: Results of an International, Multidisciplinary Survey.

Lance A Burn, Tanzil Rujeedawa, Abdul Lalkhen, Allan R Martin, Anna MacDowall, Brian K Kwon, Carl M Zipser, Caroline Treanor, David B Anderson, Esther Martin-Moore and 26 more

Abstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Muscle & nerve, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

36 authors.

Lance A BurnAddenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0006-0449-5786
Tanzil RujeedawaAddenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Cambridge Biomedical Campus, Cambridge, UK.
Abdul LalkhenThe Manchester and Salford Pain Centre, Salford, UK.
Allan R MartinDepartment of Neurological Surgery, University of California, Davis, California, USA.
Anna MacDowallDepartment of Surgical Sciences, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden.
Brian K KwonDepartment of Orthopaedics, International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5089-8280
Carl M ZipserSpinal Cord Injury Center, Balgrist University Hospital, Zurich, Switzerland.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4396-4796
Caroline TreanorDepartment of Physiotherapy & Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin, Ireland.
David B AndersonFaculty of Medicine and Health, School of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7104-122X
Esther Martin-MooreMyelopathy.org, Cambridge, UK.
James GuestNeurological Surgery, University of Miami, Miami, Florida, USA.
James S HarropDepartment of Neurological Surgery, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.
Jamie MilliganDepartment of Family Medicine, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
Julio C FurlanKITE Research Institute and Lyndhurst Centre, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2038-0018
Konstantinos MargetisDepartment of Neurosurgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Lianne WoodDepartment of Public Health and Sports Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK.
Ligia V OnofreiDepartment of Neurology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.
Luiz R VialleSchool of Medicine, Pontifical Catholic University, Curitiba, Brazil.
Manabu ItoNHO Hokkaido Medical Center, Sapporo, Japan.
Mark KotterDivision of Neurosurgery, Department of Clinical Neurosciences, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Michael G FehlingsDivision of Neurosurgery and Spine Program, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Michael W Y LeeThe Hong Kong Neurosurgical Society, Department of Neurosurgery, Pamela Youde Nethersole Eastern Hospital, Chai Wan, Hong Kong.
Mike HuttonConsultant Spine Surgeon, New Hall Hospital, Salisbury, UK.
Noam Y HarelJames J. Peters Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, New York, USA.
Ratko YuracDepartment of Orthopedics and Traumatology, University del Desarrollo, Clinica Alemana de Santiago, Santiago de Chile, Chile.
Rohil V ChauhanAuckland Spine Surgery Centre, Auckland, New Zealand.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-2305
Sheila DuganMyelopathy.org, Cambridge, UK.
Sukhvinder Kalsi-RyanKITE Research Institute, University Health Network, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Sybil StacpooleUniversity of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Tammy BlizzardIndependent Contributor With Lived Experience of DCM, Pennsylvania, USA.
Timothy F BoergerDepartment of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.
Tore K SolbergInstitute of Clinical Medicine, The Arctic University of Norway, Tromsø, Norway.
Justin M LantzDivision of Biokinesiology and Physical Therapy, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.
Benjamin DaviesAcademic Neurosurgery Unit, Department of Clinical Neurosurgery, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
Lindsay TetreaultDepartment of Neurology, Massachusetts General Brigham, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
AO Spine RECODE‐DCM Diagnostic Criteria Incubator

Funding

AO Spine Knowledge Forum Spinal Cord InjuryMyelopathy.org
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

INTRODUCTION/

aimsDiagnosis 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.

methodsAn 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.

resultsFifteen 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.

Indexed as

Attitude of Health PersonnelCervical VertebraeHealth PersonnelSpinal Cord DiseasesFemaleHumansMaleSurveys and QuestionnairesDCMdegenerative cervical myelopathydiagnosticmyelopathysurvey

Identifiers

PMID41334975
PMCPMC12803577

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.