Manual Therapy in Chronic Shoulder Pain Treatment

实验性的：Mobilization to the glenohumeral joint

This condition consisted on the application of a passive rhythmic AP mobilization to the glenohumeral joint of the affected shoulder

程序：Mobilization to the glenohumeral joint

The treatment condition consisted on the application of a passive rhythmic AP mobilization to the glenohumeral joint of the affected shoulder. In particular, a Grade III AP glide to the humeral head with the arm positioned in 90º of glenohumeral abduction and full internal rotation was used. The posterior gliding force to the humeral head was applied maintaining the glide at right angles to the plane of movement and at a frequency of 2 Hz which was controlled by means of a metronome. The arm was returned to its original position between each set.

其他名称：

• 联合操纵

假比较器：The manual contact condition

In this condition the therapist positioned the patient in a mid-range position of glenohumeral abduction and internal rotation and applied the hands to the same contact point as in the treatment condition.

程序：The manual contact condition

During the manual contact condition the therapist positioned the patient in a mid-range position of glenohumeral abduction and internal rotation and applied the hands to the same contact point as in the treatment condition. However, a simulated posterior glide was performed but with minimal pressure actually applied. The number of repetitions and sets were as per the treatment condition.

其他：No-contact condition

During the no-contact condition, the subject remained in the initial starting position thorough the entire session but there was no manual contact between the therapist and the participant. The total treatment time was the same as per the other conditions.

无干预：No-contact condition

There was no manual contact between the therapist and the participant

Self-reported shoulder pain

Participants were asked to indicate the intensity of their current shoulder pain using a numeric rating pain scale (NRPS). In this scale, 0 is not pain and 10 is the worse pain possible

Shoulder disability

The DASH is comprised of 30 items (disability/symptom section) and two optional sections related to the impact of pathology on work and sports. Each item is scored from 1 to 5 with increasing values representing more severity of symptoms. The total score for the disability/symptoms section ranges from 30 to 150, but it is then transformed to a scale from 0 (better score possible) to 100 (worse score possible).

Shoulder range of movement (ROM)

Active elevation in the scapular plane and passive glenohumeral internal and external rotation were measured using a Standard BASELINE ® 12-inch plastic goniometer following previous guidelines. The 0 degrees of movement is worse and 180 degrees is the better

Shoulder muscles strength

Isometric strength of the shoulder internal and external rotator musculature was measured using a portable hand-held dynamometer (Nicholas Manual Muscle Tester, Lafayette Instruments, USA). Normal external rotation strength is 20 Newtons and 27 newton in internal rotation strength

Pressure pain threshold (PPT)

The PPT was measured using an analogue Fisher algometer (Force Dial model FDK, Wagner Instruments) with a surface area at the round tip of 1cm2. The algometer probe tip was applied perpendicular to the skin at a rate of 1kg/cm2/s until the first onset of pain. The PPT value is specific in each subject.The minimal clinically important difference is 2Kg/cm