Comparison of the subjective shoulder value and the Constant score.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the subjective shoulder value (SSV) and to compare it with the Constant score (CS). The SSV is defined as a patient's subjective shoulder assessment expressed as a percentage of an entirely normal shoulder, which would score 100%. Patients who underwent operative treatment for rotator cuff repair (n = 247), arthroplasty (n = 83), or stabilization for recurrent anterior instability (n = 111) were included in this study. Correlation between the SSV and CS was highest postoperatively and was higher in the rotator cuff group (0.80) than in the osteoarthritis (0.69) and instability (0.61) groups. The relative CS could reliably predict the variance in the SSV in patients with rotator cuff tears (54%) and osteoarthritis (41%) and, to a lesser extent, in instability patients (23%). The SSV is an easily administered, responsive, and valid measure of shoulder function. The SSV may offer an improvement over the CS in assessing shoulder instability patients, as the CS may overestimate the results of these patients.