The Effect of the Addition of Core Exercises to Supervised Physiotherapy in Patients With Subacromial Impingement Syndrome.
Héctor Gutiérrez-Espinoza, Guillermo Méndez-Rebolledo, Jonathan Zavala-González and 2 others
PMID 39906051WHAT IT FOUND
In 34 patients with subacromial impingement, adding core exercises to five weeks of supervised physiotherapy increased lateral rotator strength by 9.2 kg and grip strength by 10.6 kg.
However, without a control group, it is impossible to separate the effect of the core exercises from the standard physiotherapy they also received.
Key findings
01Lateral rotator strength increased by 9.2 kg and grip strength by 10.6 kg after five weeks of combined treatment.
02Functional outcomes improved significantly, with Constant-Murley scores increasing by 30.3 points and pain during strength testing decreasing by 3.9 cm.
03Because the study lacked a control group, the specific contribution of the core exercises cannot be separated from the supervised physiotherapy.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTsWhat it means for SLPs
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What it does not show
The study used a single-group pre- and post-test design without a control group, making it impossible to determine if the improvements were due to the core exercises, the supervised physiotherapy, or the natural course of the condition. The authors note that the lack of a control group may have led to an overestimation of the treatment effects. Kinematic changes in the shoulder or trunk were not assessed, so the mechanism behind the improvements remains theoretical. Self-reported questionnaires like the Constant-Murley are subject to recall bias.
Declared interests
The authors report no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not interpret these large gains as proof that core exercises are more effective than standard shoulder physiotherapy. The study had no control group, so the improvements might have occurred with the supervised physiotherapy alone.