Comparison of clinical and patient-based measures to assess medium-term outcomes following shoulder surgery for disorders of the rotator cuff.
OBJECTIVE
To compare different assessments following shoulder surgery for impingement syndrome with or without rotator cuff tear or repair.


METHODS
A prospective study of 93 patients was conducted. Standard assessments were performed before, at 6 months, and at 4 years following shoulder surgery using the patient-based Oxford Shoulder Score (OSS), the Medical Outcomes Study Short Form-36 (SF-36) questionnaire, and a surgeon-assessed Constant Shoulder Score. Patients were categorized according to the surgery received in relation to the presence of cuff tears: full repair, partial repair, cuff tear/no repair, no tear/no repair.


RESULTS
Most patients (57%) received subacromial decompression for impingement with no cuff tear. This group had the fewest pre- and postoperative symptoms. The category of patients who received only partial repair of a cuff tear had worse scores on all outcome assessments compared with other groups. Patient-based measures were more stable over time than the Constant.


CONCLUSIONS
The shoulder-specific measures had greater sensitivity than the SF-36 in registering significant differences in outcomes between comparison groups at 6 months and 4 years.
Dawson
Jill
J
School of Health Care, Oxford Brookes University, Oxford, UK. jdawson@brookes.ac.uk
Hill
Graham
G
Fitzpatrick
Ray
R
Carr
Andrew
A
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011446:Prospective Studies; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000601:surgery*; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D012785:Shoulder Joint / Q000502:physiology / Q000601:surgery*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D016896:Treatment Outcome