Shoulder Impingement Syndrome: A Qualitative Study
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Shoulder Impingement Syndrome: A Qualitative investigation of patient understanding and expectations of treatment.
IRAS ID
168487
Contact name
Andrew V Cuff
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Research & Development Rotherham NHS Foundation Trust
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 4 months, 31 days
Research summary
Shoulder impingement syndrome (SIS) is reported to be the most common cause of shoulder pain. The term ’impingement’ refers to the mechanical irritation of the rotator cuff tendons between the top of the long arm bone (humeral head) and the bone at the top of the shoulder joint (acromion). Whilst this theory has been largely accepted by the medical community, recent evidence does not seem to support this mechanism as the cause of the patient’s problem. An internal degeneration of the tendon appears to be a more likely cause and the case has been made for this condition to be termed ’Rotator Cuff Disease’ or ’Rotator Cuff Tendinopathy’. Furthermore, the use of biomedical language and biomedical models to explain their pain to patients has been extensively shown to increase fear, anxiety and even pain in patients; the majority of this work has focused around low back pain. It is not known what patients diagnosed with ’SIS’ understand about their condition, or expected treatment. This study will provide insight into what patients understand SIS to be and what they expect in terms of treatment.
REC name
London - Surrey Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/LO/1794
Date of REC Opinion
12 Oct 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion