Is the constant score reliable in assessing patients with frozen shoulder? 60 shoulders scored 3 years after manipulation under anaesthesia.

We assessed the function of 60 primary frozen shoulders at a mean of 33 months after manipulation under general anaesthesia. Each patient was scored according to the system described by Constant and Murley (1987). We also evaluated a modified method of strength assessment with the sling over the mid-humerus (modified Constant score), and analyzed the abbreviated Constant score, which excludes the strength measurement (Patel et al. 1999). Moreover, the patients filled out an Oxford questionnaire (Dawson et al. 1996). We found a better correlation between the Oxford score and the Constant-Murley score when muscle strength was excluded or measured by the modified method.