The Clinical Utility of the Seated Wall Angel as a Test with Scoring.
Chad Kofoed, Allison Palmsten, Jonathon Diercks and 3 others
PMID 39371191WHAT IT FOUND
The Seated Wall Angel test scored lower on injured shoulders than uninjured ones in patients with instability, and improved over six weeks.
It correlated with patient-reported function, unlike standard range of motion tests, suggesting it may better reflect overall shoulder status.
Key findings
01Injured side scores were significantly lower than uninjured side scores at initial testing.
02Injured side scores significantly improved from initial to follow-up testing.
03The Seated Wall Angel test was the only clinical measure significantly associated with patient-reported shoulder function at initial testing.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The sample size was very small (14 patients), which limits the generalizability of the findings. The study population was limited to patients with anterior shoulder instability, so results may not apply to other shoulder conditions. Rehabilitation exercises during the six-week period were not monitored, so it is unclear what specific interventions drove the improvement in SWA scores. The test did not account for factors like scapular muscle strength or thoracic spine mobility directly, making it difficult to isolate why scores improved. Follow-up was time-based rather than milestone-based, so findings may not directly inform return-to-sport decisions.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume the Seated Wall Angel test is a validated replacement for standard range of motion assessments. The study was small, the intervention was not controlled, and the test's inability to distinguish between mobility, strength, and apprehension limits its diagnostic specificity.