Preoperative ASES Scores Can Predict Substantial Clinical Benefit at 2 Years Following Total Shoulder Arthroplasty

Preoperative patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) have been shown to influence outcomes after total shoulder arthroplasty (TSA), although little is known about this relationship. An institutional shoulder arthroplasty registry was retrospectively queried for preoperative and 2-year postoperative 12-Item Short Form Health Survey (SF-12) and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) scores for patients who underwent anatomic TSA (aTSA) or reverse TSA (rTSA). Preoperative PROMs were evaluated for their effect on patient achievement of minimal clinically important improvement (MCII) and substantial clinical benefit (SCB). In total, 451 aTSA patients and 93 rTSA patients had preoperative and 2-year follow-up scores. A total of 91.7% and 70.4% of patients achieved MCII and SCB at 2 years, respectively (P<.001). Preoperative ASES scores were more predictive of achieving SCB than MCII (area under the curve [AUC], 0.83 vs 0.71). When accounting for mental and emotional health, the predictive ability of SF-12 physical component threshold values improved (AUC, 0.68). Preoperative threshold PROMs were found to accurately predict achievement of clinically significant outcomes at 2 years. Considering mental and emotional health improved the accuracy of these predictions. These data will assist surgeons and patients alike in setting expectations for outcomes after TSA. [Orthopedics. 2021;44(4):e509-e514.].