The aim of this study is to investigate the early stage effectiveness of multimodal physical therapy with exercise in the conservative treatment of partial thickness rotator cuff tears.
Although partial thickness rotator cuff tear prevalence is greater than those of full-thickness tear, most studies on conservative treatment are associated with full-thickness tears. In general, any physical therapy modality alone is not effective in the treatment of rotator cuff tears. It has been reported that multimodal physiotherapy may be more successful than monotherapy, but evidence in this regard is inadequate. Therefore this observational prospective study aiming to investigate the effectiveness of physiotherapy in the treatment of rotator cuff tears was planned. The null hypothesis of this study is that multimodal physical therapy combined with exercise has no effect on pain and function in the treatment of partial thickness rotator cuff tears. The alternative hypothesis is the opposite. Patients will be assessed by standardized measures in terms of pain and function (American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons standardized shoulder form: patient self report section), active range of motion (goniometric measurement) and quality of life (Western Ontario rotator cuff index) at baseline and first, third and 6th months of follow-up.
Study Type
OBSERVATIONAL
Enrollment
3
Multimodal physical therapy will compose of thermotherapy (hot pack or cold pack) and electrotherapy (transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation or interferential current) and therapeutic ultrasound (at least two of them). Therapeutic exercise will compose of combination of range of motion, stretching, strengthening,neuromuscular and task specific exercises according to the clinical condition of patient under the supervision of a physiotherapist. Additionally, all patients will be allowed to carry on home exercise program.
İlker Şengül
Izmir, In the USA Or Canada, Please Select..., Turkey (Türkiye)
Pain/function
Pain and function are assessed by Turkish version of American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons Standardized Shoulder Assessment Form, patient self-report section. It consists of two subscales including pain (one item) and function section (ten items). Pain and function subscales range between 0 and 50 with a maximum total score of 100. Lower pain subscale score means more pain, and lower function subscale score means more functional loss. The Turkish version of ASES standardized shoulder form:patient self reported section has been reported as reliable and valid.
Time frame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
Disease specific health-related quality of life
Disease specific health-related quality of life is assessed by Turkish version of Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index.The Turkish version of the WORC index has been found a reliable and valid measurement tool. WORC index consists of 5 subscales including physical symptoms (6 items), sports and recreation (4 items), work (4 items), life style (4 items) and emotions (3 items). Each item is estimated based on 0-100 mm visual analogue scale. By summating the item scores, subscale scores and total scores are computed (possible total maximum score is 2100). Lower scores represents higher quality of life.
Time frame: Baseline to 6 months follow-up
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