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- Issue 57
- Assessing shoulder disability in orthopaedic specialist…
Assessing shoulder disability in orthopaedic specialist care: introducing the Copenhagen Shoulder Abduction Rating (C-SAR)
Key Points
- This paper examined a new measure of shoulder disability called the Copenhagen Shoulder Abduction Rating (C-SAR).
BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE
Shoulder pain and associated disability is common. There are many diagnostic labels attributed to shoulder pain such as rotator cuff-related shoulder pain (RCRSP), labral tears, frozen shoulder, and osteoarthritis. There is variation regarding what each of these labels means, what constitutes a diagnosis, and whether or not such a label adds value (1). For example, a diagnosis itself does not readily inform a specific treatment for shoulder pain.
To understand the impact of shoulder pain on a person’s quality of life (QoL), patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS) are typically used. These are either generic (e.g. the MSK-HQ) or condition specific (e.g. Oxford Shoulder Score). This paper outlined how there are some challenges to the use of PROMS, such as time, whilst also articulating an argument that the severity of common causes of shoulder pain are unknown.
The aims of this paper were therefore two-fold:
- To understand the severity of common causes of shoulder pain in terms of disability; and
- To rate that disability using a new measure, when compared to the Shoulder Pain and Arm Disability Index (SPADI).
Rather than introduce in lieu of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMS), readers should consider how the C-SAR may compliment the use of PROMS.
METHODS
This new measure was called the Copenhagen Shoulder Abduction Rating (C-SAR) and in turn, allowed for the criterion validity to be investigated. Criterion validity relates to the extent in which a measure is related to an outcome.