Shoulder Instability-Return to Sports After Injury Scale Shows That Lack of Psychological Readiness Predicts Outcomes and Recurrence Following Surgical Stabilization

Purpose: To evaluate the predictive ability of psychological readiness to return to sports on clinical outcomes and recurrences in athletes who return to sports following shoulder instability surgery.Methods: A retrospective analysis was performed of patients who underwent shoulder instability surgery between September 2020 and October 2021 (arthroscopic Bankart repair or Latarjet procedure) with a minimum follow-up of 2 years. Patients were grouped according to the achievement of psychological readiness to return to play using the Shoulder Instability-Return to Sports After Injury (SIRSI) scale (>= 55 points) measured at 6 months following surgery. Recurrences were measured and functional outcomes were evaluated by the visual analog scale (VAS), Rowe, and Athletic Shoulder Outcome Scoring System. The minimal clinically important difference (MCID) for the VAS and Rowe scores was calculated using the distribution-based method of a half standard deviation of the delta (difference between postoperative and preoperative scores). The patient acceptable symptomatic state (PASS) for the VAS scale was set at 2.5 based on previous literature. To evaluate the predictive ability of SIRSI, a regression model analysis and a receiver operating characteristic curve were used. Results: A total of 108 who achieved psychological readiness (PSR) and 41 who did not achieve PSR met the study criteria. PSR achieved significantly higher percentages of MCID and PASS thresholds for VAS than non-PSR (MCID: 68.5% vs 48.7%, P = .026; PASS: 92.5% vs 58.5%, P < .001). However, there were no differences in the percentage of patients achieving MCID for the Rowe score between groups (98.1% vs 100%, P = .999). The only strongest independent predictor of postoperative outcomes was being psychologically ready to return to sports. The SIRSI scale had an excellent predictive ability for recurrences (area under curve, 0.745; 95% confidence interval, 0.5-0.8). Of those who sustained a recurrence, 20% were not psychologically ready compared to 4.3% who were (P = .002). A power analysis was not conducted for this study. Conclusions: The SIRSI scale is associated with postoperative clinical outcomes and recurrences in patients who returned to sports following shoulder instability surgery. Patients who were not psychologically ready following shoulder instability surgery had worse clinical outcomes with fewer patients achieving clinically significant outcomes (PASS and MCID) for pain and a higher risk of recurrence. Level of Evidence: Level IV, retrospective cohort study.