Measurement of shoulder related disability: results of a validation study.
OBJECTIVE
To develop and validate a questionnaire to quantify disability associated with shoulder symptoms.


METHODS
A set of questions relevant to shoulder symptoms from a general disability interview was developed and the questionnaire applied to a cross-sectional population survey and a prospective study of general practice attenders. Subjects included adults who reported current shoulder pain in a population survey and patients from three general practices who attended with shoulder symptoms during a six month period. The main outcome measures were: frequency of problems with daily living related to shoulder symptoms, total score on 22-item disability questionnaire, and measures of shoulder movement.


RESULTS
A higher proportion (80%) of patients attending their general practitioner with shoulder symptoms had five or more disabilities compared with subjects reporting shoulder pain in a community survey (34%). The ranked frequency with which each disability was reported was similar in the two groups, although sleep disturbance was the most common problem in consulters. Self-reported disability is correlated with measures of restricted shoulder movement.


CONCLUSIONS
This disability questionnaire was simple to complete and should prove useful for both general practice and population-based studies of shoulder pain.
Croft
P
P
ARC Epidemiology Research Unit, University of Manchester, United Kingdom.
Pope
D
D
Zonca
M
M
O'Neill
T
T
Silman
A
A
D000203:Activities of Daily Living; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D004185:Disability Evaluation; D005194:Family Practice; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D009140:Musculoskeletal Diseases / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000503:physiopathology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires