Use of scoring systems for assessing and reporting the outcome results from shoulder surgery and arthroplasty

Abstract

To investigate shoulder scoring systems used in Europe and North America and how outcomes might be classified after shoulder joint replacement. All research papers published in four major journals in 2012 and 2013 were reviewed for the shoulder scoring systems used in their published papers. A method of identifying how outcomes after shoulder arthroplasty might be used to categorize patients into fair, good, very good and excellent outcomes was explored using the outcome evaluations from patients treated in our own unit. A total of 174 research articles that were published in the four journals used some form of shoulder scoring system. The outcome from shoulder arthroplasty in our unit has been evaluated using the constant score (CS) and the oxford shoulder score and these scores have been used to evaluate individual patient outcomes. CSs of < 30 = unsatisfactory; 30-39 = fair; 40-59 = good; 60-69 = very good; and 70 and over = excellent. The most popular shoulder scoring systems in North America were Simple Shoulder Test and American shoulder and elbow surgeons standard shoulder assessment form score and in Europe CS, Oxford Shoulder Score and DASH score.

Keywords: Arthroplasty; Assessment; Classification; Operations; Patient outcomes; Replacement; Scoring methods; Shoulder joint; Surgery; Surgical therapy.

Figure 1

Number of articles that used different shoulder scoring systems during 2012 and 2013.

Figure 2

Most popular shoulder scoring systems during 2012 and 2013. ASES: American shoulder and elbow surgeons standard shoulder assessment form; DASH: Disabilities of the arm, shoulder and hand; UCLA: University of California-Los Angeles shoulder scale.