Correction to: Feasibility study: one year fortnightly follow-up of the evolution of supra-spinatus degeneration via text-messages.

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Feasibility study: one year fortnightly follow-up of the evolution of supra-spinatus degeneration via text-messages.

BACKGROUND: The clinical follow-up of patients for degeneration of the supraspinatus tendon is limited by the lack of objective assessment of pain evolution over time. We therefore tested a new method to collect follow-up data on patients treated either by surgical cuff repair or rehabilitation. OBJECTIVES: We report the feasibility this method in terms of recruitment of clinicians and patients and their compliance. METHODS: In this multicenter longitudinal observational study, between September 2015 and March 2019, patients consulting either for surgical repair or rehabilitation were examined at baseline and after twelve months by their clinician, including the Mini-DASH questionnaire. Fortnightlys, during one year, patients were asked about number of days their shoulder problem affected their daily life, number of nights woken up from shoulder pain, and present pain score, using text-messages for sending and responding to questions. A system administrator supervised responses and non-compliant subjects were contacted and assisted with the procedure. The CONSORT statement for pilot studies was followed. RESULTS: Four of 11 invited clinicians accepted participation and collected data till the end. Of the 410 patients we originally planned for, 252 were included in the study, but complete data for the clinicians' follow-up at 12 months were missing for 30. Of the 222 subjects with SMS data files, 190 (85%) provided at least 80% of their fortnightly messages. All three SMS messages were answered equally often. In total, 160 study subjects answered at least 80% of times and had clinical data at twelve months, i.e. 39% of the intended study sample and 72% of the 222 subjects with SMS data. CONCLUSION: The most important difficulty of this study was the enrolment and compliance of clinicians. The collection of SMS data was less successful than in previous studies, but French people accepted well this new method which is much easier and specific than collecting data through clinical records. The quality of the SMS data was acceptable. However, because of the limited number of complete datasets, only a limited number of questions from the original study protocol can be answered.

Are degenerative rotator cuff disorders a cause of shoulder pain? Comparison of prevalence of degenerative rotator cuff disease to prevalence of nontraumatic shoulder pain through three systematic and critical reviews.

HYPOTHESIS AND BACKGROUND: The role of degeneration is not well understood for rotator cuff pain. If age-related degenerative changes would be the cause of symptoms, degeneration would precede or concur with self-reported pain. We performed 3 systematic literature reviews. Our objectives were to determine the prevalence estimates for rotator cuff partial or complete tears (1) in cadavers and (2) in the general population and (3) to estimate the incidence/prevalence of self-reported nontraumatic shoulder pain in the general population in order to compare their respective age-related profiles. METHODS: We searched PubMed and ScienceDirect, including 2015, for cadaveric studies and transverse and longitudinal studies of the general population reporting the incidence/prevalence of rotator cuff disorders or nontraumatic shoulder pain, or both, according to age. The review process followed the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses (PRISMA) guidelines. Results were interpreted visually. RESULTS: We found 6 cadaveric studies, 2 studies from the general population reporting complete tears, and 10 articles on nontraumatic shoulder pain in the general population that met our criteria. The profiles of degeneration vs. pain were very similar in early years. Although degenerative rotators cuff lesions increased gradually after 50 years, the incidence/prevalence of nontraumatic shoulder pain decreased after 65 years. CONCLUSION: The profile of age-related degenerative rotator cuff disorders fails to correlate systematically with self-reported nontraumatic shoulder pain, particularly in older age; thus, it appears that degeneration should not be considered the primary source of the pain. Physical activity may play an important role in the production of the pain, a theory that warrants further study.

Systematic review of manual therapies for nonspecific neck pain.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effectiveness of manual therapies in the treatment of nonspecific neck pain. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Medline and the Cochrane Library were searched for randomized controlled trials of manual therapy or mobilization, used alone or with exercises to treat pain and functional impairment related to nonspecific neck pain. Cochrane Back Review Group criteria were used to assess the quality of the trials and the level of evidence (unclear, limited, moderate, or high) for short-, medium-, and long-term effects. RESULTS: Of 27 identified trials, 18 were of high quality. In acute neck pain, effective treatments were thoracic manipulation combined with electrothermal therapy in the short term and cervical manipulation in the long term. In chronic neck pain and neck pain of variable duration, both pain and function improved consistently at all follow-up time points. None of the manual therapies used alone or in combination was superior over the others. In the long term, exercises alone or combined with manual therapies were superior over manual therapies used alone. CONCLUSION: Manual therapies contribute usefully to the management of nonspecific neck pain. The level of evidence is moderate for short-term effects of upper thoracic manipulation in acute neck pain, limited for long-term effects of neck manipulation, and limited for all techniques and follow-up durations in chronic neck pain.