Image 1_Diverging diagnostic trajectories of degenerative cervical myelopathy and cervical radiculopathy in South Korea: a nationwide time-series analysis of claims data, 2010–2024.tiff

Cervical radiculopathy shares the same degenerative substrate but follows a separate diagnostic pathway. Long-term national trends in the two conditions, and their relation to surgical practice, are unquantified in an East Asian system with universal coverage.</p>Methods<p>This nationwide repeated cross-sectional ecological analysis used aggregate open data from the Korean Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service, 2010 through 2024.

DCM was identified by ICD-10 codes M50.0 and M47.1, cervical radiculopathy by M50.1, and ossification of the posterior longitudinal ligament by M48.8; fee codes identified surgical volumes. Rates are annual diagnostic prevalence (unique patients per code per year) and were age-standardized to the World Health Organization World Standard Population. Joinpoint regression quantified average annual percent change (AAPC), and four sensitivity analyses addressed case definition, care setting, coding era, and the March 2022 extension of magnetic resonance imaging reimbursement.</p>Results<p>The DCM age-standardized rate fell from 147.2 to 83.7 per 100,000, a decline of 43.1 percent (AAPC −4.14 percent, 95 percent confidence interval [CI] −4.63 to −3.65, p < 0.001); the corresponding crude patient count fell 15.7 percent, whereas cervical radiculopathy rose from 697.9 to 851.9 (AAPC +1.34 percent, 95 percent CI +1.08 to +1.59).