Ertan Şahinoğlu1, Bayram Ünver2, Kamil Yamak3. 1. Graduate School of Health Sciences, Dokuz Eylül University, Mithatpaşa Cad. No. 1606 İnciraltı, Balçova, İzmir, Turkey. ertan.sahinoglu@hotmail.com. 2. School of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Dokuz Eylül University, İzmir, Turkey. 3. İzmir Bozyaka Education and Research Hospital, University of Health Sciences, İzmir, Turkey.
Abstract
BACKGROUND: The literature emphasizes that a consideration of patients' perspectives is an important part of the assessment process; however, it is ignored by many clinicians because they believe physical impairment measures can reflect patients' perspectives about their symptoms. But the relevance of changes in physical impairments to changes in patient-reported outcome scores in rotator cuff disease is ambiguous. AIMS: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between changes in glenohumeral range of motion (ROM) and shoulder muscle strength and changes in pain, disability, and health-related quality of life scores before and after physical therapy in patients with rotator cuff disease. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of thirty-nine patients with unilateral rotator cuff disease. All patients received a 6-week physical therapy program. The outcome measures were glenohumeral ROM, shoulder muscle strength, pain and disability using the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and health-related quality of life as measured by the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index. All outcomes were measured before and after the treatment period. RESULTS: There were weak correlations between the changes in abduction ROM and the SPADI-total score (r = - 0.32, p < 0.05), and the changes in external rotation strength and the SPADI-disability score (r = - 0.32, p < 0.05). There was no correlation between the changes in the other parameters. CONCLUSIONS: This study implies that the changes in glenohumeral ROM and shoulder muscle strength do not represent the changes in patients' perspectives in pain, disability, and health-related quality of life after the physical therapy program in patients with rotator cuff disease.
BACKGROUND: The literature emphasizes that a consideration of patients' perspectives is an important part of the assessment process; however, it is ignored by many clinicians because they believe physical impairment measures can reflect patients' perspectives about their symptoms. But the relevance of changes in physical impairments to changes in patient-reported outcome scores in rotator cuff disease is ambiguous. AIMS: The purpose of this study is to determine the relationship between changes in glenohumeral range of motion (ROM) and shoulder muscle strength and changes in pain, disability, and health-related quality of life scores before and after physical therapy in patients with rotator cuff disease. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of thirty-nine patients with unilateral rotator cuff disease. All patients received a 6-week physical therapy program. The outcome measures were glenohumeral ROM, shoulder muscle strength, pain and disability using the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI), and health-related quality of life as measured by the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index. All outcomes were measured before and after the treatment period. RESULTS: There were weak correlations between the changes in abduction ROM and the SPADI-total score (r = - 0.32, p < 0.05), and the changes in external rotation strength and the SPADI-disability score (r = - 0.32, p < 0.05). There was no correlation between the changes in the other parameters. CONCLUSIONS: This study implies that the changes in glenohumeral ROM and shoulder muscle strength do not represent the changes in patients' perspectives in pain, disability, and health-related quality of life after the physical therapy program in patients with rotator cuff disease.