Shoulder physical activity, functional disability and task difficulties in patients with stiff shoulders: interpretation from RT3 accelerator

We determined whether the degree of symptom-related functional disability was related to daily physical activity of the shoulder in subjects with stiff shoulders (SSs). Responsiveness and a clinically meaningful level of discrimination between improvement and non-improvement for shoulder physical activity (SPA) were determined. Twenty-six subjects with SSs participated. Shoulder physical activity was assessed by RT3 accelerometers fixed on the humerus during daily 14-h data collection periods twice a week for 2 weeks. A moderate correlation coefficient was found between SPA and functional disability (β = .47). Based on our cohort design and sample, we suggest that SPA (higher than 101.8 counts, hard-moderate or hard tasks) during daily activity are associated with (with at least 83% probability) non-improvement in an individual with SS. Compared to the non-improvement group, the improvement group had less duration of sedentary activity, less frequency and duration of hard tasks, and more frequency and duration of easy tasks (p < 0.01). Appropriate guidance on shoulder physical activities for subjects with SS is important to consider in rehabilitation strategies for these subjects. In our sample, a hard level of shoulder physical activity and sedentary activity should be cautious for these subjects. Further study is needed to validate therapeutic effect of physical activity on the course of patient improvement in subjects with SSs.