Clinical trial NCT06823206: Effects of Movement Representation Techniques with Sensorimotor Training for Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain
Official title: Effects of Movement Representation Techniques with Sensorimotor Training for Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain: a Randomised Controlled Trial
Study type: INTERVENTIONAL
Overall status: NOT_YET_RECRUITING
Phase: NA
Conditions: Rotator Cuff Related Shoulder Pain
Lead sponsor: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Sponsor class: OTHER
First posted: 2025-02-12
Enrollment: 122
Sex: ALL
Minimum age (years): 50
Standard ages: ADULT
OLDER_ADULT
Accepts healthy volunteers: no
Allocation: RANDOMIZED
Intervention model: PARALLEL
Primary purpose: TREATMENT

Brief summary: The aim of this study is to evaluate the efficacy of 12 weeks of sensorimotor training with movement representation techniques for reducing pain intensity in people with rotator cuff related shoulder pain, relative to standard care. Besides, the secondary aim of this study is to explore the mechanisms underlying the effects of central mechanism treatment in people with rotator cuff related shoulder pain. A total of 122 older adults aged 50 or above with the presence of shoulder pain for more than three months will be recruited and randomized into 12-weeks of movement representation techniques with sensorimotor training vs. standard care. Shoulder pain and disability Index (SPADI), changes in primary motor cortex (M1) using brain MRI, changes in subacromial space using ultrasound imaging, Widespread Pain Index (WPI), Pain Catastrophising Scale (PCS), and Fear-avoidance Beliefs questionnaires (FABQ) will be assessed at baseline and 12-week post intervention.


Eligibility criteria: Inclusion Criteria:

* Aged 50 or above
* Presence of shoulder pain for more than three months
* Clinical test showed 3/5 positive tests (painful arc, resisted external rotation, Neer test, Kennedy-Hawkins test, and Jobe test), and the intensity of pain being provoked should be ≥ 3/10 on an 11-point numeric pain rating scale (NPRS)
* Structural changes of rotator cuff tendons using MRI or ultrasound imaging

Exclusion Criteria:

* History of trauma
* Shoulder fracture, glenohumeral osteoarthritis, or arthritis in the acromioclavicular joint
* Clinically suspected labrum lesion
* Previous shoulder surgery or dislocation
* Clinical signs of anterior shoulder instability
* Clinical signs of frozen shoulders
* Previous clinical treatment or corticosteroid injection for a shoulder injury within the last 12 months
* Symptoms referred from or related to the spine; and (9) other competing diagnoses (i.e., rheumatoid arthritis, cancer, neurological disorders, fibromyalgia, or psychiatric illness).

Primary outcomes:
measure: Pain intensity
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
Secondary outcomes:
measure: Cortical thickness in the primary motor cortex (M1) using brain MRI
timeFrame: Baseline and 12 weeks post-intervention
Other outcomes:
measure: Shoulder strength
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
measure: Subacromial space
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
measure: Central pain processing
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
measure: Pain Catastrophising
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
measure: Fear-avoidance Beliefs questionnaires
timeFrame: Baseline and 12-weeks post-intervention
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