Correspondence between perceived disability and objective physical impairment after elbow trauma

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Pain Management

Background:

• Disability and impairment often show significant discrepancies, with psychosocial factors like pain playing a crucial role.
• Pain is a more significant determinant of perceived arm disability than objective elbow impairment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the relationship between objective elbow impairment and perceived task-specific disability.
• To test if objective loss of elbow motion predicts perceived elbow-related disability better than pain.

Main Methods:

• 158 patients with traumatic elbow injuries were assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder and Hand (DASH) questionnaire.
• Univariate and multivariate analyses evaluated predictors of total DASH scores and specific item scores related to elbow function.

Main Results:

• Elbow motion explained 35% of total DASH score variability and 24-33% for elbow-dependent tasks.
• Pain explained 41% of total DASH score variability and was a stronger predictor for tasks like opening jars and pushing doors.
• Multivariate models explained a maximum of 53% of DASH score variability.

Conclusions:

• Objective elbow impairment correlates with self-reported disability for specific tasks.
• A significant portion of perceived disability remains unexplained, highlighting the need for further research into impairment-disability differences.