Effect of scapular stabilization exercises on subacromial pain (impingement) syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Ziyi Zhong; Wanli Zang; Ziyue Tang; Qiaodan Pan; Zhen Yang; Bin Chen

doi:10.3389/fneur.2024.1357763

Effect of scapular stabilization exercises on subacromial pain (impingement) syndrome: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials

Front Neurol. 2024 Mar 1:15:1357763. doi: 10.3389/fneur.2024.1357763. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Ziyi Zhong^#¹, Wanli Zang^#², Ziyue Tang³, Qiaodan Pan⁴, Zhen Yang⁵, Bin Chen⁶

Affiliations

¹ Institute of Life Course and Medical Sciences, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom.
² Postgraduate School, Harbin Sport University, Harbin, China.
³ Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The First Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, China.
⁴ School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.
⁵ Department of Movement Sciences, KU Leuven-University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
⁶ Shanghai Yangzhi Rehabilitation Hospital (Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center), School of Medicine, Tongji University, Shanghai, China.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of scapular stabilization exercises (SSE) in the treatment of subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS).

Methods: Clinical randomized controlled trials (RCTs) on SSE in the treatment of SAPS were searched electronically in PubMed, Science Direct, Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL), EBSCOhost, Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro), Web of Science, and other databases from 2000 to 2022, supplemented by manual search. Final RCTs were selected based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, and the Physiotherapy Evidence Database scale was used to evaluate the methodological quality of the study. A meta-analysis was conducted on data using the RevMan5.4 software.

Results: Eight RCTs involving 387 participants were included. The meta-analysis showed that the experimental group (SSE) had greater improvements in the Visual Analog Scale score [Weighted Mean Difference (WMD) = -0.94, 95% CI (-1.23, -0.65), p < 0.001] and the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index score [WMD = -10.10, 95% CI (-18.87, -1.33), p = 0.02] than the control group (conventional physical therapy). However, range of motion (ROM) was not found to be greater in the experimental group than in the control group.

Conclusion: Existing evidence moderately supports the efficacy of SSE for reducing pain and improving function in SAPS, without significant improvement in ROM. Future research should focus on larger, high-quality, standardized protocols to better understand SSE's effects across diverse SAPS populations, treatment, and outcome measures.

Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/PROSPERO/display_record.php?RecordID=307437, CRD42022307437.

Keywords: exercise therapy; meta-analysis; scapula; scapular stabilization exercises; subacromial pain syndrome; systematic review.

Publication types

Systematic Review

Grants and funding

The author(s) declare financial support was received for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article. This work was supported by the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission (Grant number 20214Y0040).