What outcomes are important in the recovery from acromio-clavicular (AC) joint pathology? A focus group study with patients and surgeons.

CONCLUSION: Although many factors affecting the AC joint were common to instability and OA pathology, several factors appear to be unique to each and do not appear in existing AC joint metrics. These symptoms and patient-centered outcomes may be used by clinicians in the assessment of patients with AC pathology and in the development of rehabilitation programs. Implications for rehabilitation A thorough understanding of symptoms and patient-centred outcomes associated with acromio-clavicular arthritis and instability is necessary in order to conduct an accurate clinical assessment and design an effective rehabilitation program that meets the clinical needs of patients. Patients in this study identified several themes relevant to assessment and rehabilitation program development including pain location, type of pain (eg. burning pain), and specific activities that induced pain that do not exist in current existing tools. Our finding that certain themes were only raised in either acromio-clavicular instability or osteoarthritis suggests that there may be differences in important outcomes for patients depending on the underlying cause of the acromio-clavicular joint pathology. By incorporating these themes into clinical assessments, outcomes important to patients may be elicited to monitor response to rehabilitation following injury or surgery. PMID: 32805156 [PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Source: Disability and Rehabilitation - Category: Rehabilitation Authors: Tags: Disabil Rehabil Source Type: research