Conservative treatment for shoulder pain: prognostic indicators of outcome.

Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Sydney, Lidcombe, Australia. K.Ginn@fhs.usyd.edu.au

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the long-term clinical outcome and to identify factors that predict that outcome, after conservative treatment of patients who have shoulder pain with or without accompanying stiffness. DESIGN: Cohort study. SETTING: Outpatient clinic. PARTICIPANTS: Eighty-two subjects who had participated in a randomized controlled trial that compared the short-term effectiveness of conservative treatment for chronic, unilateral shoulder pain of mechanical origin with and without accompanying stiffness, and who were available for longer term follow-up 6 months after the cessation of formal treatment. INTERVENTIONS: Conservative treatment consisting of various combinations of exercise therapy, passive joint mobilization, electrophysical modalities, and corticosteroid injections. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Pain intensity, functional limitation, perceived change in symptoms, active range of motion, muscle force, and clinical and demographic variables. RESULTS: Patients showed significant improvement in all outcome measurements in the long-term whether or not their shoulder pain was accompanied by stiffness. Long-term outcome was not predicted by hand dominance, clinical history of the shoulder condition, severity of the shoulder problem, or shoulder mechanics. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with chronic shoulder pain, with or without accompanying stiffness, can expect significant decreases in shoulder pain and improvements in shoulder function in the long term after conservative treatment.

PMID: 15295745 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]