Simple Shoulder Test.

Last updated Thursday, February 10, 2005

Figure 9 - Twelve basic functions

Origins of the simple shoulder test

Who is the most consistent evaluator of a shoulder with a problem?

It is important that the patient answer these questions without assistance: it is the patient's own evaluation of his or her shoulder function that is wanted. Because the patient is the consistent evaluator of the shoulder, concern about inter observer variability is eliminated. The SST reflects the status of the shoulder in functional terms, rather than in degrees of motion, appearance of radiographs or isokinetic torque measurements. If the situation requires, we can add questions to the original twelve, keeping the minimal data set intact. For example in studying high performance athletes, we add to the basic SST such questions as: "Does your shoulder allow you to pitch (or serve) with your usual speed and control?" "Does your shoulder allow you to swim your normal workout?" "Does your shoulder allow you to compete at the varsity level in your sport?"

Prior to the clinical introduction of the Simple Shoulder Test we verified that almost all normal patients aged 60 to 70 years were able to perform the twelve basic functions. Subsequently, we have used the Simple Shoulder Test on thousands of clinical occasions.

How useful was this page or article? This article is rated out of 5 stars (91 ratings). Not useful at all Not very useful Useful Very useful Extremely useful