CONSISTENCY BETWEEN THREE SHOULDER SCORING SYSTEMS IN EVALUATING SHOULDER FUNCTIONS OF PATIENTS WITH ADHESIVE CAPSULITIS

K. Canlı¹, F. Can²

¹Hacettepe University, Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation, Ankara, Turkey, ²Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

Background: Studies of patients with adhesive capsulitis have used various scales that are not specific to shoulder pathology, and scoring systems evaluating shoulder functions are chosen arbitrarily. However, it is not known whether the results of these scoring systems/questionnaires are consistent with each other.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to compare the consistency of three shoulder scoring systems in evaluating shoulder functions in patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Methods: Thirty patients diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis were included in the study.Patients completed the Disabilities of the Arm Shoulder and Hand (DASH), Simple Shoulder Test (SST), and Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI).

Results: There were moderate to strong correlations between DASH and SPADI (r=0.71 p<0.001), between DASH and SST (r=0.69 p<0.001), and between SPADI and SST (r=0.64 p<0.001). For DASH and SPADI, the estimated intercept was 1.49 (95% confidence interval [CI]: [-9.18, 12.15]) and the slope was 0.83 (95% CI: [0.62, 1.04]). For DASH and SST, the estimated intercept and slope were -10.70 (95% CI: [-27.48, 6.0]) and 0.87 (95% CI: [0.64, 1.10]), respectively. For SPADI and SST, the estimated intercept and slope were -14.69 (95% CI: [-39.57, 10.19]) and 1.05 (95% CI: [0.72, 1.37]), respectively.

Conclusions: Although the DASH, SPADI, and SST showed good consistency according to Deming regression analysis, these scoring systems cannot be used interchangeably due to the differences in their descriptive statistics and the systematic errors demonstrated by graphical investigations.

Implications: A pathology-specific questionnaire is needed for patients with adhesive capsulitis.

Funding acknowledgements: There is no funding for this study

Keywords:
shoulder functions
shoulder scoring systems
shoulder scales

Topics:
Musculoskeletal: upper limb
Musculoskeletal: peripheral
Musculoskeletal

Did this work require ethics approval? Yes

Institution: Hacettepe University

Committee: Hacettepe University

Ethics number: 43091