Comparison of Exercise Interventions in Adults With Subacromial Impingement Syndrome



Status:Completed
Conditions:Orthopedic
Therapuetic Areas:Orthopedics / Podiatry
Healthy:No
Age Range:18 - Any
Updated:5/3/2014
Start Date:February 2012
End Date:May 2014
Contact:Christiana L Blume, PT, MS, OCS
Email:cblume@twu.edu
Phone:214-345-7388

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Comparison of an Eccentric Exercise Intervention to a Concentric Exercise Intervention in Adults With Subacromial Impingement Syndrome

The purpose of this study is to compare two different physical therapy exercise programs in
persons who have shoulder pain in order to determine if they have a different affect on pain
level and ability to use the injured shoulder after treatment. Both exercise groups will
attend physical therapy for an hour,two to three times a week, for eight weeks. The first
two weeks of therapy sessions will involve learning the exercises and testing to determine
what weight to use during exercises. One group will perform a traditional therapy exercise
program for shoulders using hand weights. The other group will perform a version of the same
shoulder exercises but with a different exercise technique. Exercises in both programs are
part of the standard of care for shoulder impingement in physical therapy but one program
concentrates on the lowering portion of the exercise (eccentrics) while the other emphasizes
the lifting portion of the exercise (concentrics). Both groups will perform the same
warm-up, stretching, and cool-down exercises. Participants will also be required to perform
a daily home exercise program of stretches and range of motion that will take about 20
minutes to complete. Exercise testing will determine the hand weight resistance used by each
person during their therapy sessions and re-testing will occur every two weeks to determine
any changes in the weight used for the exercises to keep them challenging. Pain level,
ability to use the injured arm for daily activities, strength, and amount of movement in the
shoulder, will be measured at the start of physical therapy and after five and eight weeks
(end of study) of the exercise treatments. A concurrent study investigating the reliability
of the shoulder motion and strength measurements used in the larger study will also be
performed.

Research hypotheses:

1. Adults with shoulder pain who complete the eccentric progressive resistive exercise
intervention will demonstrate significantly greater improvements in the outcome
measures at three weeks, earlier in the intervention, than the concentric progressive
resistive exercise intervention group.

2. Adults with shoulder pain who perform progressive resistive exercise interventions,
regardless of contraction type, will demonstrate significant improvement in the
shoulder outcome measures at three and six weeks of intervention.

This study will be a prospective, repeated-measure, randomized clinical trial comparing
shoulder outcome measures in adults with SAIS following eccentric or concentric progressive
resistance exercise intervention programs. Subjects: 36 persons with SAIS, aged 18 and
older, will be recruited from the Texas Health Resources Dallas outpatient rehabilitation
department and referring physicians. Procedures: Participants will be randomly assigned to
either a concentric or eccentric intervention group. Participants will complete outcome
measures for pain intensity, shoulder function, shoulder pain-free active range of motion
(AROM) of flexion and scapular plane elevation, and shoulder pain-free strength of external
rotation and abduction. Outcomes will be assessed by an investigator blinded to group
assignment at baseline and after three and six weeks of intervention. Interventions will
consist of supervised exercise sessions three times a week. Exercise progression will follow
a standardized and systematic approach. The reliability of the AROM and strength outcome
measures will be assessed concurrently using a random subset of six participants from each
group.

Inclusion Criteria:

- 18 years of age and older

- Present with clinical signs of subacromial impingement syndrome

- Have not yet initiated physical or occupational therapy treatment

Exclusion Criteria:

- Previous shoulder, cervical, or thoracic surgery.

- History of shoulder fracture, dislocation, labral tear, or full thickness rotator
cuff tear

- Treatment for neoplasm in the last year

- Rheumatic disease

- Adhesive capsulitis

- Shoulder pain currently rated greater than or equal to 8/10 on the NPRS

- Cardiac, neurological, or musculoskeletal condition that precludes ability to perform
upper extremity resisted exercise

- Pregnancy

- inability to understand spoken or written English

- Inability to arrange transport to evaluation or treatment sessions or not planning to
stay in the area long enough to complete study
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