PERCEIVED SELF-REPORT OF EFFORT DURING ROTATOR CUFF & SCAPULAR REHABILITATIVE EXERCISE IN PATIENTS AFTER SHOULDER SURGERY

Background: Rehabilitation following shoulder surgery involves the use of resistive exercise but dosing of these exercises historically employs multiple sets of pre-determined repetitions and few reports document the perceived effort encountered by patients during these exercises for both elastic resistance and free-weights. The OMNI-Resistance Exercise Scale (OMNI-RES) has been tested and applied as a measure of perceived exertion (RPE) for resistive exercise but has not gained widespread acceptance as an optimal method for physical therapists to document RPE during rehabilitation of shoulder surgery. Purpose: To generate descriptive values of RPE encountered during common shoulder exercises of varying resistance in patients following shoulder surgery as well as provide a comparative analysis between perceived exertion ratings of similar exercise movement patterns using elastic and traditional isotonic resistance. Study Design: Descriptive Cross-sectional Cohort Methods: Sixty-six subjects (mean age 53.3 +/- 12.8 years) were included in this study following shoulder surgery (RC repair n=22, labral repair n=10, SA n=34). Perceived exertion using the OMNI-RES was recorded during performance of seven rotator cuff and scapular rehabilitation exercises at 6- and 12-weeks following surgery. Results: Mean RPE using OMNI-RES in combined surgical groups ranged between 3.6 and 5.7 (mean = 4.50 +/- 2.1) across all seven exercises (scale 0 = very easy to 10 = extremely hard). From the external rotation (ER) exercise pair, paired t-tests revealed standing ER w/ Thera-band (R) (ERB) had a significantly higher OMNI-RES score versus sidelying ER w/ cuff weight (SLERW) (mean: 5.13 vs 4.41, p = 0.001) while the extension exercise pair consisting of standing shoulder extension w/ band (EXTB) and prone extension w/ cuff weight (PEXTW) showed no significant difference in OMNI-RES score (mean: 3.54, 3.67, p = 0.626). Conclusion: Commonly prescribed resistance exercise in the rehabilitation following shoulder surgery show light-moderate ratings of perceived exertion at both 6 & 12 week post-operative timepoints across three surgical procedures.