Correlation Between Patient-Reported and Clinician-Measured Shoulder Range of Motion in Patients Undergoing Shoulder...

There has been increasing interest in remote measures of patients' health, both in the clinical and research settings. This study sought to evaluate correlations between patient-reported and clinician-measured (CM) shoulder range of motion (ROM).

ROM measures including elevation, abduction, and internal rotation were recorded by a patient-reported picture-based survey and clinician measurement during each patient visit. A total of 13,842 visits over a 16-year period met inclusion criteria. Spearman correlation was performed to determine the correlation between patient-reported and CM elevation, abduction, and internal rotation. A subgroup analysis was conducted to evaluate motion in patients who underwent arthroplasty and arthroscopy.

Patients were 52.4% male with a median age of 67 years (range, 18 to 96). PR and CM shoulder ROM were gathered at 13,842 patient visits. Strong correlations between PR and CM elevation (r = 0.70) and internal rotation (r = 0.66) were found, as well as a moderate correlation between PR and CM abduction (r = 0.59). Strong correlations were found between all three PR and CM measures of motion in the arthroplasty subgroup (elevation r = 0.74, abduction r = 0.63, and internal rotation r = 0.64).

There is a strong correlation between patient-reported and CM shoulder elevation and internal rotation, as well as a moderate correlation between PR and CM abduction. This allows for a method of assessing patient motion without requiring an in-person visit.

Level III Retrospective Cohort Study.