Data of 663 patients with three different pathologies were examined. We found that using patients with significant symptoms and functional difficulty in the opposite shoulder will not bias the results of observational studies if outcomes are based on routine disability measures such as ASES or Constant-Murley scores. Recently, using patients with bilateral limb problems as independent cases has raised concerns in orthopaedic research due to violating the assumption of independence. If observations are too similar in characteristics, they become highly correlated which leads to lowering the variance and biasing the results. Type of pathology (impingement, cuff tear, osteoarthritis) and aging are expected to affect the incidence of bilateral shoulder complaints and should be considered when examining potential bias in this area. In addition, the impact of dominant side pathology has not been investigated primarily in patients with shoulder problems. The objectives of this study were: 1) to examine the incidence of bilateral shoulder complaints and pathology on the dominant side in patients with impingement syndrome, rotator cuff tear and osteoarthritis of the glenohumeral joint, 2) to explore the role of sex and age in developing bilateral shoulder complaints, and 3) to examine the impact of bilaterality and hand dominance on pre and one year post-operative disability.Summary
Introduction
In the sample studied, reparability of large and massive tears was associated with pre-op ASES and active external rotation in neutral position. Surgical factors affecting reparability were tear size, tendon mobility and shape of the tear. The limited literature has shown good results with partial repairs of large and massive tears of rotator cuff but the role of factors that affect reparability is less clear1–3. The purpose of this study was twofold, 1) to explore the predictive value of clinical and surgical factors on reparability of large and massive rotator cuff tears and 2) to examine the relationship between reparability and clinical and disability measures.Summary
Introduction
