A Randomized, Controlled Clinical Trial of a Treatment for Shoulder Pain

• Published in: Physical therapy 1997-08, Vol.77 (8), p.802-809
• Main Authors: Ginn, K A, Herbert, R D, Khouw, W, Lee, R
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activities of Daily Living; Biomechanical Phenomena; Care and treatment; Clinical trials; Evaluation; Exercise therapy; Exercise Therapy - methods; Exercise Therapy - standards; Female; Humans; Male; Pain; Pain - etiology; Pain - rehabilitation; Pain Measurement; Patient Satisfaction; Physical therapy; Range of Motion, Articular; Shoulder; Shoulder Joint; Shoulder pain; Single-Blind Method; Therapeutics, Physiological
• ISSN: 0031-9023; 1538-6724
• DOI: 10.1093/ptj/77.8.802

The aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of a physical therapy approach to the treatment of shoulder pain. Subjects. Sixty-six volunteers with shoulder pain believed to be of local mechanical origin were randomly allocated to either a treatment group or a control group. Subjects in the treatment group received 1 month of physical therapy aimed at restoring function of their shoulder muscles. Subjects in the control group received no treatment. Outcome measurements of pain intensity, range of motion (ROM), isometric muscle force, functional impairment, and self-perception of improvement were obtained by blinded assessment. Subjects in the treatment group showed improvement in pain-free abduction and flexion ROM, functional impairment, and self-perception of improvement. The control group deteriorated slightly over the experimental period in ROM and functional impairment measures. These results suggest that the physical therapy approach used in this study is effective in improving shoulder function in subjects experiencing pain of mechanical origin. The results also provide little evidence of spontaneous recovery over a 1-month period.