A Central Nervous System Focused Treatment Program for People with Frozen Shoulder: A Feasibility Study

Silvia Mena-del Horno, Lirios Dueñas, Enrique Lluch, Adriaan Louw, Alejandro Luque-Suarez, Michel GCAM Mertens, Laura Fuentes-Aparicio and Mercè Balasch-Bernat
Additional contact information
Silvia Mena-del Horno: Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Lirios Dueñas: Physiotherapy in Motion, Multi-Specialty Research Group (PTinMOTION), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Enrique Lluch: Physiotherapy in Motion, Multi-Specialty Research Group (PTinMOTION), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Adriaan Louw: Evidence in Motion, San Antonio, TX 16414, USA
Alejandro Luque-Suarez: Facultad Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad de Málaga, 29071 Málaga, Spain
Michel GCAM Mertens: MOVANT Research Group, Department of Rehabilitation Sciences and Physiotherapy, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Antwerp, 2610 Wilrijk, Belgium
Laura Fuentes-Aparicio: Physiotherapy in Motion, Multi-Specialty Research Group (PTinMOTION), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain
Mercè Balasch-Bernat: Physiotherapy in Motion, Multi-Specialty Research Group (PTinMOTION), Department of Physiotherapy, University of Valencia, 46010 Valencia, Spain

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 5, 1-12

Abstract: Background: Frozen shoulder (FS) is a highly disabling pathology of poorly understood etiology, which is characterized by the presence of intense pain and progressive loss of range of motion (ROM). The aim of this study is to evaluate the feasibility and clinical impact of a CNS-focused treatment program for people with FS. Methods: 10 subjects with primary FS received a 10-week CNS-focused intervention including sensory discrimination training and graded motor imagery techniques delivered as clinic sessions (60 min) and home therapy (30 min five times per week). Measurements were taken at baseline, after a 2-week “washout” period, after treatment, and at three months follow-up. The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) was the primary outcome. Secondary measures were feasibility-related outcomes, self-reported shoulder pain, active and passive range of motion, two-point discrimination threshold (TPDT), left/right judgement task (LRJT), fear-avoidance (Tampa Scale for Kinesiophobia), pain catastrophization (Pain Catastrophizing Scale), and pain sensitization (Central Sensitization Inventory). A Student’s t -test was used to assess the “washout” period. A repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to evaluate within-subjects’ differences for all outcome measures in the different assessment periods and a pairwise analysis was used to compare between the different assessment points. Statistical significance was set at p < 0.05. Results: 70% of participants completed the treatment. No significant changes were found after “washout” period except for TPDT ( p = 0.02) and SPADI ( p = 0.025). Improvements in self-reported shoulder pain ( p = 0.028) and active shoulder flexion ( p = 0.016) were shown after treatment ( p = 0.028) and follow-up ( p = 0.001) and in SPADI at follow-up ( p = 0.008). No significant changes were observed in TPDT, LRJT, fear-avoidance, pain catastrophization, and pain sensitization. Conclusions: a CNS-focused treatment program might be a suitable approach to improve pain and disability in FS, but further research is needed to draw firm conclusions.

Keywords: adhesive capsulitis; feasibility study; frozen shoulder; motor imagery; patient compliance; tactile discrimination training (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2628/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/5/2628/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:5:p:2628-:d:757517

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().