MONDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- Rotator cuff tears are common among elderly patients and can significantly reduce shoulder function, specifically abduction strength, even when they do not cause pain or other symptoms, according to study findings published in the February issue of the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery.
H. Mike Kim, M.D., and colleagues at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, conducted a study of 237 subjects with no history of shoulder injury and no shoulder pain. The subjects underwent bilateral ultrasound, and the researchers also measured the strength of external rotation and abduction in the scapular plane.
A torn rotator cuff in at least one shoulder was identified in 41 subjects, with 10 percent prevalence among those aged 50 to 59, 20 percent for those aged 60 to 69, and 40.7 percent for those aged 70 and older, the investigators found. In male subjects the decrease in both abduction strength and external rotation was age-dependent, whereas for females only abduction strength was age-dependent, the researchers report.
"Age is the most important predictor of strength of abduction in the scapular plane, whereas body weight is the most important predictor of external rotation strength," the authors write. "When there is a substantial decrease in the strength of abduction in the scapular plane in relation to the strength in external rotation, the possibility of an asymptomatic full-thickness rotator cuff tear should be suspected."
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