Table 4 Population characteristics, clinical symptoms and physical examination features of patients in 4 clusters.

Variables	Results after hierarchical clustering				P value
Variables	Cluster 1	Cluster 2	Cluster 3	Cluster 4	P value
Subjects (%)	38 (8.0%)	181 (38.0%)	197 (41.4%)	60 (12.6%)
Age (years)	55.0 ± 10.5	50.1 ± 11.8	52.9 ± 10.0	52.7 ± 12.6	P = 0.021
Gender (M/F)	21/17	101/80	98/99	29/31	P = 0.590
Smoking history (y/n)	7/31	28/153	30/167	6/54	P = 0.666
Alcohol consumption history (y/n)	4/34	15/166	16/181	5/55	P = 0.970
Numbness (y/n)	33/5	147/34	161/36	49/11	P = 0.866
Neck and shoulder pain (y/n)	7/31	51/130	41/156	7/53	P = 0.044
Chest and abdominal banding sensation^a (y/n)	3/35	8/173	14/183	3/57	P = 0.609
Cotton-stepping sensation (y/n)	15/23	64/117	79/118	27/33	P = 0.568
Fine motor loss^a (y/n)	3/35	22/159	25/172	9/51	P = 0.791
Gait abnormality^a (y/n)	8/30	9/172	16/181	7/53	P = 0.012
Sympathetic symptoms (y/n)	5/33	34/147	39/158	18/42	P = 0.172
Muscular atrophy^a (y/n)	3/35	20/161	20/177	6/54	P = 0.985
Muscle strength loss (y/n)	21/17	91/90	106/91	37/23	P = 0.490
Abnormal reflexes^a (y/n)	2/36	19/162	15/182	7/53	P = 0.569
Positive pathological signs (y/n)	30/8	114/67	142/55	51/9	P = 0.006
Positive Eaton test (y/n)	11/27	54/127	48/149	14/46	P = 0.593
positive Spurling test (y/n)	5/33	46/135	31/166	10/50	P = 0.068
Surgical procedure (ACDF/LP)	24/14	123/58	108/89	33/27	P = 0.052

Age was a continuous variable and had a normal distribution by Shapiro–Wilk test. One-way ANOVA was used to test the difference between groups.
^aThese features had an expected frequency < 5, so that Fisher's exact test was used to analyze the differences among groups. For other features with expected frequency ≥ 5, Pearson Chi-square test (χ²) was used to analyze the differences among all groups.

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