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Last updated Thursday, January 27, 2005
Thorough evaluation is essential
It is important to emphasize that shoulder arthritis may co-exist with other medical conditions, many of which will substantially alter the patient's disability and their potential to respond positively to treatment. Thus a thorough evaluation of each individual is essential.
The SF 36 provides a standardized documentation of the patient's self-assessed health status. The importance of factors such as the SF 36 scales of emotional role function, mental health, and social function is well demonstrated in the work of Summers et al (Summers, Haley, Reveille, et al., 1988), who found that the objective severity of the disease showed little relationship to patients' reports of pain, whereas psychological variables were much more closely correlated with measures of pain and functional impairment.
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