Effect of glenohumeral stabilization exercises combined with scapular stabilization on shoulder function in patients with shoulder pain: A randomized controlled experimenter-blinded study

BACKGROUND: Shoulder stabilization exercises consisted of a glenohumeral stabilization and scapular stabilization. No studies have been assessed the superiority of shoulder stabilization until now. OBJECTIVE: To compare the effect of a glenohumeral stabilization exercise (GSE) combined with a scapular stabilization exercise (SSE)on changes in shoulder function in patients with shoulder pain METHODS: Shoulder stability, scapular alignment, pain, muscle power, and range of motion (ROM) were measured before and after the intervention in both groups. RESULTS: Forty subjects with shoulder pain were randomly assigned to an experimental or control group. GSE in the experimental group (n = 20) resulted in significantly better shoulder stability (P = 0.020, from 9.00 +/- 6.90 score to 14.25 +/- 8.58) and pain intensity (P = 0.042, 7.40 +/- 2.44 score to 4.60 +/- 2.06) compared to SSE in the controls (n = 20). However, no significant effects were observed for scapular symmetric alignment including the angles of inferior scapular distance (P = 0.555) and inferior scapular height difference (P = 0.770), muscle power including shoulder flexion (P = 0.942) and shoulder abduction (P = 0.551), or ROM including shoulder flexion (P = 0.852) and shoulder abduction (P = 0.622). CONCLUSION: This study suggests that GSE positively affects shoulder stability and pain control in patients with shoulder pain, probably through a centralization effect on the shoulder mechanism.