Gender-specific Constant score correction for age.

To investigate the relationship between age, gender and the Constant score. Two hundred and seventy Healthy volunteers (527 normal shoulders) from our local population with no previous history of shoulder disease were assessed using the Constant score. The mean age was 43.9 years (16-86) and the mean Constant score 85.9 (56-100). The mean score was 88.1 (range 56-100) for men and 83.7 (range 60-100) for women. A mixed regression model estimated that, for the male population, the Constant score falls by 0.15 points per annum between the ages of 50 and 70 and by 1.3 points per year after the age of 70. Similarly, for the female population, the fall is of 0.25 per year between 60 and 70 and 0.35 after the age of 70. The changes are statistically significant (P < 0.01) and clinically important when comparing patients of different age groups.