An acute neck pain case with insidious onset, duration under twelve weeks, isolated to the neck and reduced cervical ROM in all directions is most consistent with which ICF diagnosis?

• A. Cervicalgia
• B. Neck pain with headaches
• C. Neck pain with mobility deficits
• D. Spondylosis without radiculopathy

Answer: (C)

The scenario points to a movement-impaired pattern in the cervical spine. When neck pain is acute and the main finding is reduced range of motion in all directions, the ICF label that fits best is neck pain with mobility deficits. This category captures pain that accompanies measurable limitations in active and passive cervical motion across multiple planes, indicating the primary impairment is in the mobility of the neck joints and surrounding tissues.

Cervicalgia is a general term for neck pain without specifying the functional/movement impairment, so it doesn’t highlight ROM restrictions. Neck pain with headaches would emphasize the presence of headache as a key feature, which isn’t described here. Spondylosis without radiculopathy denotes a degenerative condition that can be chronic and may or may not present with widespread ROM loss, but the acute, all-directions ROM limitation aligns more directly with a mobility-deficits pattern.