Effect of glenohumeral stabilization exercises combined with scapular stabilization on shoulder function in patients with shoulder pain: A randomized controlled experimenter-blinded study.

BACKGROUND

Shoulder stabilization exercises consisted of a glenohumeral stabilization and scapular stabilization. No studies have been assessed the superiority of shoulder stabilization until now.

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effect of a glenohumeral stabilization exercise (GSE) combined with a scapular stabilization exercise (SSE) on changes in shoulder function in patients with shoulder painMETHODS: Shoulder stability, scapular alignment, pain, muscle power, and range of motion (ROM) were measured before and after the intervention in both groups.

RESULTS

Forty subjects with shoulder pain were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. GSE in the experimental group (n= 20) resulted in significantly better shoulder stability (P= 0.020, from 9.00 ± 6.90 score to 14.25 ± 8.58) and pain intensity (P= 0.042, 7.40 ± 2.44 score to 4.60 ± 2.06) compared to SSE in the controls (n= 20). However, no significant effects were observed for scapular symmetric alignment including the angles of inferior scapular distance (P= 0.555) and inferior scapular height difference (P= 0.770), muscle power including shoulder flexion (P= 0.942) and shoulder abduction (P= 0.551), or ROM including shoulder flexion (P= 0.852) and shoulder abduction (P= 0.622).

CONCLUSION

This study suggests that GSE positively affects shoulder stability and pain control in patients with shoulder pain, probably through a centralization effect on the shoulder mechanism.