Relationship between load carrying on the head and cervical spondylosis in Ghanaians.

Three hundred and five patients (164 males and 141 females) with mean age 39.9 with standard deviation 7.3 and a range of 29-78 years were involved in a study to find out the relationship between load carrying on the head and cervical spondylosis. Out of 225 patients who carried loads on their head, 143 (63.6%) had cervical spondylosis, and of the 80 people who did not carry load on their head, 29 (36%) had cervical spondylosis. 131 (58%) of those who carried load did so regularly with an average weight of about 15 kg or more over a period 10-15 years or more. It is concluded that cervical spondylosis is not exclusively an ageing phenomenon, but that regular heavy load carrying on the head plays an aetiological role.