LAUSR

OBJECTIVES The purpose of this study was to establish the clinical cut-off values of the 10-s grip and release (G&R) and 10-s step quantitative tests for the diagnosis of cervical spondylotic myelopathy (CSM) and to elucidate the aging variation and gender difference of those values in a large cohort of healthy subjects. PATIENTS AND METHODS Patients with CSM (n = 454) and asymptomatic subjects (n = 818) were included. Subjects were aged 40-70 years; according to their age, they were categorized by decades. The 10-s G&R and 10-s step tests were used to quantitatively assess performance. The receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curves were plotted to evaluate the cut-off value of the 10-s G&R and 10-s step tests for determining the presence or absence of CSM in each gender and decade. RESULTS The cut-off values in the G&R test were 20 in 40 s, 19 in 50 s, 17 in 60 s, and 16 in 70 s groups respectively. The cut-off values in the 10-s step test were 19 in 40 s, 18 in 50 s, 16 in 60 s, and 15 in 70 s groups respectively. The cut-off value of the G&R test in females was lower than that in the males. The cut-off value of 10-s step test was lower in the females than in the males in 40 s and 50 s groups. CONCLUSIONS The cut-off values in the 10-s G&R test and 10-s step decreased with age. When these quantifiable tests are used as screening tests of CSM, age and gender difference should be considered.