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. 2020 Oct 5;55(2):99–107. doi: 10.1136/bjsports-2020-102216

Table 3.

Secondary comparison arthroscopic subacromial decompression (ASD) versus exercise therapy (ET): outcomes of the trial at 5 years follow-up

ASD
(n=53)
ET
(n=62)
Between-group difference,
(ASD versus ET)
P value
Primary outcomes
 Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) score, at rest 6.3 (1.5 to 11.0) 5.3 (0.8 to 9.8) 1.0 (−5.6 to 7.6) 0.77
 VAS score, on arm activity 12.6 (6.1 to 19.2) 16.5 (10.3 to 22.6) −3.9 (−12.8 to 5.1) 0.40
Secondary outcomes
 Constant-Murley score 83.7 (79.2 to 88.1) 79.8 (75.6 to 84.1) 3.9 (−2.3 to 10.0) 0.22
 Simple shoulder test score 10.6 (10.0 to 11.3) 10.7 (10.1 to 11.3) 0.0 (−0.9 to 0.8) 0.94
 15D score 0.90 (0.89 to 0.91) 0.91 (0.90 to 0.93) 0.01 (−0.03 to 0.01) 0.32
 SF-36 score
  Physical health 84.3 (81.2 to 87.3) 87.5 (84.7 to 90.4) –3.3 (−7.4 to 0.9) 0.13
  Mental health 79.2 (75.9 to 82.4) 81.9 (78.8 to 84.9) −2.7 (−7.2 to 1.8) 0.23
 Proportion of patients able to return to previous leisure activities* 0.91 (0.83 to 0.98) 0.80 (0.70 to 0.90) 0.11 (−0.02 to 0.23) 0.067
 Proportion of responders† 0.98 (0.95 to 1.0) 0.94 (0.88 to 1.0) 0.04 (−0.03 to 0.11) 0.32
 Patients’ satisfaction with treatment‡ 89.7 (84.4 to 95.0) 86.8 (81.8 to 91.7) 3.0 (−4.3 to 10.2) 0.42
 No (%) complications and adverse effects§ 3 (5) 3 (4)

Values are means with 95% CIs unless otherwise indicated. A lower score indicates the desired (better) treatment outcome in pain VAS score and complications, while a higher score indicates the same in all other outcomes. Between-group differences may not exactly equal the difference in changes in score between the ASD and diagnostic arthroscopy groups because of the adjustment for baseline imbalance in the mixed-effects model.

*Patients ability to return to previous leisure activities was assessed with the following question: ‘Have you been able to return to your previous leisure activities?’ (‘yes’ or ‘no’).

†Patients’ satisfaction with the treatment outcome was elicited with a question: ‘How satisfied are you with the outcome of your treatment?’ on a 5-item scale. Patients who reported very satisfied or satisfied were categorised as ‘Responders’.

‡Patients’ global assessment of satisfaction to the treatment was elicited with this question: ‘Are you satisfied with the treatment you have received?’ We used a VAS ranging from 0 (completely disappointed) to 100 (very satisfied).

§Complications directly related to the interventions were registered.