Pillow use: the behavior of cervical stiffness, headache and scapular/arm pain

Figures & data

Figure 1 Sample demographics and completions, and valid and excluded observations for each pillow.

Table 1 Reports of waking cervical stiffness, headache and scapular pain, and trial pillow (using only valid data)

Pillow	None	Occasional short term	Regular short term	Occasional long term	Regular long term
Cervical stiffness
‘Own’ pillow	66.1%	19.6%	8.9%	3.6%	1.8%
Polyester	61.2%	14.9%	3.0%	16.4%	4.5%
Foam regular	61.5%	17.9%	6.4%	6.4%	7.7%
Foam contour	52.5%	20.0%	7.5%	16.4%	3.8%
Feather	49.2%	7.7%	4.6%	33.9%	4.6%
Latex	67.5%	11.7%	9.1%	6.5%	5.2%
Headache
‘Own’ pillow	80.4%	8.9%	1.8%	7.1%	1.8%
Polyester	74.6%	10.4%	3.0%	11.9%	0%
Foam regular	73.4%	11.4%	3.8%	11.4%	0%
Foam contour	74.7%	11.4%	3.8%	10.1%	0%
Feather	63.3%	18.3%	0%	16.7%	1.7%
Latex	90.9%	5.2%	0%	4.9%	0%
Scapular/arm pain
‘Own’ pillow	82.1%	10.7%	1.8%	3.6%	1.8%
Polyester	76.1%	10.5%	0.0%	8.9%	4.5%
Foam regular	81.6%	6.6%	2.6%	6.6%	2.6%
Foam contour	77.2%	10.1%	1.3%	10.1%	1.3%
Feather	63.6%	9.1%	1.5%	24.2%	1.5%
Latex	88.3%	3.9%	1.3%	6.5%	0%

Table 2 Crude odds ratios (95% CI) of reporting waking cervical stiffness when comparing ‘own’ and each trial pillow, and when comparing the trial polyester pillow with the other trial pillows. Significant findings are in bold type

	No cervical stiffness versus any cervical stiffness	Short term versus longer term cervical stiffness
Compared with ‘own’ pillow
Polyester	1.2 (0.6–2.7)	6.2 (1.4–26.6)
Foam regular	1.2 (0.6–2.5)	2.7 (0.6–12.4)
Foam contour	1.8 (0.9–3.6)	4.1 (1.0–17.1)
Feather	2.0 (1.0–4.2)	16.3 (3.7–27.9)
Latex	0.9 (0.4–1.9)	3.4 (0.7–16.5)
Compared with polyester pillow
Foam regular	1.0 (0.5–1.9)	0.5 (0.2–1.4)
Foam contour	1.4 (0.7–2.7)	0.6 (0.2–1.7)
Feather	1.6 (0.8–3.3)	2.6 (0.8–7.9)
Latex	0.8 (0.4–1.5)	0.5 (0.2–1.6)

Figure 2 Age association with reports of no waking headache.

Table 3 Crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) of suffering headache when comparing ‘own’ and each trial pillow, and when comparing the trial polyester pillow with the other trial pillows.

		No headache versus any headache	Short term versus longer term headache
Compared with ‘own’ pillow
Polyester	Crude	1.4 (0.6–3.3)	0.9 (0.2–3.1)
	Adjusted	1.4 (0.5–3.2)	0.8 (0.2–3.1)
Foam regular	Crude	1.5 (0.6–3.4)	0.9 (0.2–3.9)
	Adjusted	1.5 (0.5–3.1)	0.9 (0.2–4.4)
Foam contour	Crude	1.4 (0.6–3.2)	0.8 (0.2–3.5)
	Adjusted	1.4 (0.6–3.1)	0.6 (0.1–3.4)
Feather	Crude	2.4 (1.0–5.5)	1.2 (0.3–5.1)
	Adjusted	2.3 (1.0–5.6)	0.9 (0.1–4.9)
Latex	Crude	0.4 (0.2–1.1)	0.9 (0.1–6.1)
	Adjusted	0.4 (0.2–1.1)	0.8 (0.1–10.2)
Compared with polyester pillow
Foam regular	Crude	1.1 (0.5–2.2)	0.8 (0.2–2.8)
	Adjusted	1.1 (0.5–2.3)	0.8 (0.2–3.1)
Foam contour	Crude	0.9 (0.4–2.1)	1.3 (0.2–9.2)
	Adjusted	1.1 (0.5–2.1)	1.1 (0.2–8.2)
Feather	Crude	1.7 (0.5–3.6)	0.9 (0.2–3.2)
	Adjusted	1.6 (0.5–3.5)	0.9 (0.2–3.5)
Latex	Crude	0.3 (0.1–0.8)	0.9 (0.2–3.2)
	Adjusted	0.3 (0.1–0.8)	0.8 (0.2–3.2)

Note: Significant findings are in bold type.

Figure 3 Gender differences in reports of no waking scapular/arm pain on each trial pillow.

Table 4 Crude and adjusted odds ratios (95% CI) of suffering scapular/arm pain when comparing own and each trial pillow, and when comparing the trial polyester pillow with the other trial pillows

		No scapular/arm pain versus any scapular/arm pain	Short term versus longer term scapular/arm pain
Compared with ‘own’ pillow
Polyester	crude	1.4 (0.6–3.5)	2.7 (0.7–10.3)
	adjusted	1.4 (0.6–3.4)	2.5 (0.6–9.9)
Foam regular	crude	1.0 (0.4–2.5)	2.6 (0.7–9.9)
	adjusted	0.9 (0.4–2.6)	2.6 (0.7–9.1)
Foam contour	crude	1.4 (0.6–3.2)	2.5 (0.7–9.2)
	adjusted	1.4 (0.6–3.2)	2.5 (0.7–9.3)
Feather	crude	2.6 (1.1–6.1)	4.5 (0.9–10.4)
	adjusted	2.5 (1.1–5.9)	4.0 (0.9–9.4)
Latex	crude	0.6 (0.2–1.6)	3.0 (0.5–9.7)
	adjusted	0.6 (0.2–1.7)	2.9 (0.5–9.8)
Compared with polyester pillow
Foam regular	crude	0.7 (0.3–1.6)	0.6 (0.1–2.6)
	adjusted	0.7 (0.3–1.7)	0.8 (0.3–3.1)
Foam contour	crude	1.0 (0.5–2.1)	1.7 (0.3–9.6)
	adjusted	1.0 (0.5–2.1)	2.3 (0.3–11.9)
Feather	crude	1.8 (0.9–3.2)	1.7 (0.4–7.1)
	adjusted	1.8 (0.8–3.1)	1.4 (0.3–6.3)
Latex	crude	0.4 (0.2–1.0)	1.4 (0.3–6.2)
	adjusted	0.4 (0.2–1.1)	1.2 (0.3–5.7)

Notes: Significant findings are in bold type.