Airedale NHS Foundation Trust, Airedale General Hospital, Keighley, UK.
School of Health Sciences, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK.
Musculoskeletal Care. 2024 Sep;22(3):e1917. doi: 10.1002/msc.1917.
Shoulder osteoarthritis can cause significant pain and disability. It is thought that the wider principles of osteoarthritis management can be applied in the management of people with shoulder osteoarthritis, but most prior research has been conducted with people experiencing osteoarthritis of the hip and knee. There is a paucity of evidence to guide the non-surgical management of shoulder osteoarthritis and limited understanding of current physiotherapy practice.
We aimed to investigate the current treatment recommendations by physiotherapists in the UK for people with shoulder OA.
An online survey using a clinical vignette was designed and distributed to UK registered physiotherapists with experience of managing people with shoulder osteoarthritis, via social media and professional networks. Descriptive statistics were used to analyse demographic and multiple-choice questions, and free text responses were summarised narratively.
114 respondents accessed the survey with 110 valid responses; 105 (95%) respondents would offer face-to-face consultations, with 89 (81%) respondents expecting to offer 2-4 appointments. 108 (98%) respondents would offer advice/education; 79 (72%) would offer weight management; 82 (75%) prescribed exercises to improve movement; and 101 (92%) offered exercises to increase strength. If a person lived with obesity or had a treatment preference, the majority of respondents would change their recommendations.
This is the first survey of NHS physiotherapy practice for people with shoulder osteoarthritis. The responses largely align with NICE guidelines; despite this alignment, it is not known whether such guideline-based care is acceptable to people with shoulder osteoarthritis or clinically effective.
肩关节炎可导致严重疼痛和残疾。人们认为，关节炎管理的广泛原则可应用于肩关节炎患者的管理，但大多数先前的研究都是针对髋部和膝关节骨关节炎患者进行的。目前缺乏指导肩关节炎非手术治疗的证据，对当前物理治疗实践的了解也有限。
我们旨在调查英国物理治疗师目前对肩关节炎患者的治疗建议。
采用临床病例设计并通过社交媒体和专业网络向有管理肩关节炎患者经验的英国注册物理治疗师分发在线调查。使用描述性统计分析人口统计学和多项选择题，对自由文本回复进行叙述性总结。
共有 114 名受访者访问了该调查，其中有 110 份有效回复；105 名（95%）受访者将提供面对面咨询，其中 89 名（81%）受访者预计将提供 2-4 次预约。108 名（98%）受访者将提供建议/教育；79 名（72%）将提供体重管理；82 名（75%）将开改善运动的运动处方；101 名（92%）将提供增强力量的运动。如果一个人患有肥胖症或有治疗偏好，大多数受访者会改变他们的建议。
这是对 NHS 治疗肩关节炎患者的物理治疗实践的首次调查。这些回复在很大程度上与 NICE 指南一致；尽管如此，尚不清楚基于指南的护理是否能被肩关节炎患者接受或在临床上有效。
