Manipulative Therapy in Addition to Usual Care for Patients With Shoulder Complaints: Results of Physical Examination Outcomes in a Randomized Controlled Trial

The factor analysis resulted in 4 factors: “shoulder pain,” “neck pain,” “shoulder mobility,” and “neck mobility.” At 6 weeks, no significant differences between groups were found. At 12 weeks, the mean changes of all 4 factors favored the intervention group; the factors “shoulder pain” and “neck pain” reached statistical significance (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.1-2.1). At 26 weeks, differences in the factors “shoulder pain” (95% CI, 0.0-2.6), “shoulder mobility” (95% CI, 0.2-1.7), and “mobility neck” (95% CI, 0.2-1.3) statistically favored the intervention group. Manipulative therapy, in addition to usual care by the general practitioner, diminishes the severity of the pain in the shoulder and neck and improves the mobility of the shoulder and the cervicothoracic spine.