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. 2024 Jan-Mar;37(1):136-143.
doi: 10.1016/j.jht.2023.07.004. Epub 2023 Sep 29.

Prevalence of positive modified scapular assistance test in patients with shoulder pain with and without scapular dyskinesis: a cross-sectional study

Santiago Soliño  1 , Ignacio Raguzzi  2 , Lucía Victoria Castro  3 , Juan Cruz Porollan  3 , Bruno Germán Aponte  3 , María Guadalupe de Ilzarbe  3 , Pedro Bouzat  3 , Tomas Vuoto  3 , Sandra Salzberg  3 , Federico José Villalba  4 , Camila Macarena Graef  3 , Constanza Rubiera  3 , Karen Farías  3 , Matías Germán De la Rúa  3 , Federico Mignone  3 , Andrés Pierobon  5 , Pablo Oscar Policastro  6
Affiliations

Prevalence of positive modified scapular assistance test in patients with shoulder pain with and without scapular dyskinesis: a cross-sectional study

Santiago Soliño et al. J Hand Ther. 2024 Jan-Mar.

Abstract

Background: Scapular dyskinesis (SD) is defined as an altered position of the scapula or altered motion patterns and their relationship with shoulder pain (SP) is still under debate. The modified scapular assistance test (mSAT) modifies scapular kinematics and is used to determine the impact of scapular dyskinesis in shoulder pain. However, data about the relationship between SD and the result of mSAT is scarce.

Purpose: The aim of this study is to establish the frequency of positive mSAT in patients with SP and compare the prevalence in those with and without SD. As a secondary objective, we compare changes in pain intensity during the mSAT in patients with a positive test between those with and without SD.

Study design: Cross-sectional study.

Methods: Adult patients with a diagnosis of SP and with pain ≥2 during anterior flexion were included. The mSAT, scapular dyskinesis test (SDT), and shoulder function were assessed.

Results: The study was conducted between August 2018 and May 2022 and included 70 patients. The prevalence of SDT was 54.29%. No statistically significant associations were detected when assessing the relation between the presence of mSAT and SDT (p-value 0.83). When comparing pain response during the mSAT in patients with a positive test, no differences were seen between patients with SD and patients without SD (p-value 0.26).

Conclusions: The prevalence of positive mSAT results was equal between individuals with and without SD. These findings suggest that the presence or absence of SD in individuals with SP was independent of the mSAT result. The mSAT should not be used solely for the assessment of SD in clinical practice nor be influenced by the SDT result. More research is needed to determine if the result of this test could inform prognosis and guide treatment choices.

Keywords: Dyskinesis; Health assessment; Physical examination; Scapula; Shoulder; Symptom assessment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

References