Functional Status, Pain and Shoulder Mobility in Frozen Shoulder A Prospective Study

Abstract

The aim of our study was to assess the clinical course, disease duration, functional status dynamics and prevalence of elevated blood sugar values in patients with frozen shoulder (FS). We also tested two other hypotheses: a) Duration of symptoms before the beginning of therapy affects rehabilitation outcome and duration of symptoms. b) Postponed initiation of therapy affects the duration of sick leave.Our prospective study took place at the University Rehabilitation Institute-Republic of Slovenia (URI-RS) between April 2017 and March 2021. The sample comprised 26 patients with FS. We evaluated patients every 3 months for consecutive 2 years with the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire, the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) and by measuring the shoulder range of motion (ROM).During the first year, there was a statistically significant change in passive ROM, against no improvement in the second year of follow-up. Only one of the patients was a known diabetic, the majority (77 %) of patients had normal blood sugar values, and in the remaining patients, elevated levels were incidental findings. Twelve patients were on sick leave for more than 12 weeks.The study showed that the duration of sick leave did not corelate with time to treatment initiation. It is advisable to perform a fasting blood sugar test in patients with FS.

Keywords: blood sugar levels; frozen shoulder; range of motion; shoulder function; shoulder pain.