Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 14, 2026
Reverse Total Shoulder Arthroplasty
Published on: July 5, 2011
How do people perceive different labels for rotator cuff disease? A content analysis of data collected in a
Joshua R Zadro1, Zoe A Michaleff2, Mary O'Keeffe3,4
1Institute for Musculoskeletal Health, School of Public Health, The University of Sydney and Sydney Local Health District, Camperdown, New South Wales, Australia joshua.zadro@sydney.edu.au.
Objectives:
Explore how people perceive different labels for rotator cuff disease in terms of words or feelings evoked by the label and treatments they feel are needed.
Setting:
We performed a content analysis of qualitative data collected in a six-arm, online randomised controlled experiment.
Participants:
1308 people with and without shoulder pain read a vignette describing a patient with rotator cuff disease and were randomised to one of six labels: subacromial impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tear, bursitis, rotator-cuff-related shoulder pain, shoulder sprain and episode of shoulder pain.
Primary And Secondary Outcomes:
Participants answered two questions (free-text response) about: (1) words or feelings evoked by the label; (2) what treatments they feel are needed. Two researchers iteratively developed coding frameworks to analyse responses.Results1308/1626 (80%) complete responses for each question were analysed. Psychological distress (21%), uncertainty (22%), serious condition (15%) and poor prognosis (9%) were most often expressed by those labelled with subacromial impingement syndrome. For those labelled with a rotator cuff tear, psychological distress (13%), serious condition (9%) and poor prognosis (8%) were relatively common, while minor issue was expressed least often compared with the other labels (5%). Treatment/investigation and surgery were common among those labelled with a rotator cuff tear (11% and 19%, respectively) and subacromial impingement syndrome (9% and 10%) compared with bursitis (7% and 5%).
Conclusions:
Words or feelings evoked by certain labels for rotator cuff disease and perceived treatment needs may explain why some labels drive management preferences towards surgery and imaging more than others.
