Objective To explore the clinical value of Hoffmann sign in patients with degenerative cervical disorder. Methods The clinical data of 104 patients with degenerative cervical disorder who underwent anterior cervical decompression and fusion in our department from Jun. 2017 to Jan. 2019 were retrospectively analyzed, including 49 Hoffmann sign-positive patients and 55 Hoffmann sign-negative patients. The patients were followed up for at least 12 months. The general clinical manifestations, clinical signs, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), preoperative clinical scores, perioperative complications and postoperative neurological function recovery were evaluated. The correlations between Hoffmann sign and preoperative clinical scores were evaluated by the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. Results Compared with the Hoffmann sign-negative group, the patients in the Hoffmann sign-positive group had more hyperintense spinal cord and worse preoperative Japanese Orthopaedic Association (JOA) and Nurick scores (all P<0.05). ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity, specificity and area under curve (AUC) of Hoffmann sign were 85.29%, 42.22% and 0.666 (95% confidence interval[CI] 0.547-0.785, P=0.012) in predicting preoperative JOA score and were 67.65%, 75.56% and 0.731 (95% CI 0.618-0.845, P<0.01) in predicting Nurick score, respectively. JOA score in isolation analysis showed that the upper limb motor function and lower limb sensory function of the patients were worse in the Hoffmann sign-positive group than in the Hoffmann sign-negative group (both P<0.01). ROC curve analysis showed that the sensitivity, specificity and AUC of Hoffmann sign were 47.06%, 80.00% and 0.679 (95% CI 0.561-0.798, P=0.007) in predicting upper limb motor function and were 44.12%, 84.45% and 0.660 (95% CI 0.536-0.783, P=0.016) in predicting lower limb sensory function, respectively. There was no significant difference in the incidence of perioperative complications between the 2 groups. At the final follow-up, the postoperative functional recovery rate was lower, and the upper limb motor function and lower limb sensory function of the patients were worse in the Hoffmann sign-positive group than in the Hoffmann sign-negative group (all P<0.05). Conclusion Hoffmann sign can be used as a reliable clinical index to reflect the preoperative clinical presentation and postoperative functional recovery of patients with degenerative cervical disorder, especially to predict the recovery of upper limb motor function and lower limb sensory function.