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[Purpose] The characteristics of neck and shoulder pain (NSP) in different age populations have not been sufficiently examined. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare and verify the cervicothoracic spinal alignment and neck flexor muscle endurance of young and older adult females with and without NSP. [Participants and Methods] We assessed 72 female participants (39 young participants, 33 elderly participants, 43 NSP, 29 non-NSP) aged 18-82 years who were recruited for this study. Cervicothoracic spinal alignment measurements were obtained with forward head alignment (FHA) along with the upper thoracic angle. The neck flexor endurance test was performed. [Results] There were no significant age-by-group interactions for any of the assessment variables. However, the upper thoracic angle and neck flexor muscle endurance showed significant effects in the groups. Age also had significant effects on FHA and upper thoracic angle. [Conclusion] These results suggested that the neck flexor muscle endurance was more appropriate as an evaluation tool for older adult females with NSP. It was also suggested that the cervical flexor muscle endurance and upper thoracic angle were more appropriate as evaluation tools for young adult females with NSP., (2021©by the Society of Physical Therapy Science. Published by IPEC Inc.)

Objective: This is a retrospective study to compare the clinicopathological features between young and elderly women with breast cancer., Methods: Totally 181 young and 186 elderly breast cancer patients were analyzed and compared in respects of the histological subtype, tumor number and size, tumor location, histological grading, UICC-pTNM pathological staging, and lymph node metastasis status., Results: Our results showed that invasive ductal carcinoma was the most frequent histotype in young and elderly breast cancer patients. The second most frequent histological subtype was intraductal carcinoma in the young group, while the second leading histotype was invasive lobular carcinoma in the elderly group. No significant differences in tumor number and location were observed between the young and elderly groups. The percentage of patients with tumor size T3 (diameter > 5 cm) and the proportion of patients with histological grade III in the young group were significantly higher than the elderly group. For UICC-pTNM pathological staging, patients at stages 0-I and II in the young group were less than, while patients at stage III was more than, in the elderly group. In addition, the axillary lymph node metastasis rate and the numbers of axillary lymph node metastasis were elevated in the young group, compared with the elderly group., Conclusion: Breast cancer in young female patients is associated with increased aggressiveness and potential malignancy. Our findings might contribute to future diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer in young women.