Shoulder Performance Activity Test (SPAT) for People With Shoulder Pain: Feasibility, Reliability, and Validity

Area of Science:

• Orthopedics
• Physical Therapy
• Rehabilitation Medicine

Background:

• Shoulder pain significantly impacts daily activities and quality of life.
• Objective and reliable assessment tools are crucial for managing shoulder conditions.
• Existing performance-based tests may lack comprehensive evaluation of functional tasks.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the feasibility, reliability, and validity of the Shoulder Performance Activity Test (SPAT).
• To establish SPAT as a standardized measure for shoulder functional performance.

Main Methods:

• The SPAT involves overhead reach, hand behind head, and hand behind back tasks, with 20 repetitions each.
• Feasibility assessed by task completion rates; reliability by ICC and minimal detectable change.
• Validity examined by comparing scores between groups (shoulder pain vs. no pain) and between involved/uninvolved shoulders.

Main Results:

• The SPAT demonstrated good test-retest reliability (ICC 0.74-0.91).
• Individuals with shoulder pain exhibited higher SPAT scores compared to those without pain.
• The test differentiated between varying pain levels and between involved and uninvolved shoulders.

Conclusions:

• The SPAT is a feasible, reliable, and valid performance-based test for patients with shoulder pain.
• It can effectively distinguish between individuals with and without pain, and across different pain severities.
• SPAT offers a standardized approach for assessing shoulder disability and guiding clinical decisions.