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Measuring up to shoulder pain Shoulder pain is common, aVecting 15–30 % of adults at any one time,1 of whom 1 in 20 will visit a general practi-tioner in the course of a year.2 What is the most useful way to categorise such a common symptom to measure its impact, study its aetiology, and determine the eYcacy and eVectiveness of treatment? The clinical literature gives primacy to classifications based on presumed pathology. There is little concrete evi-dence that exalting most shoulder pain with terms such as tendonitis, bursitis or impingement syndrome is either reli-able or useful, and such classifications cannot anyway pro-vide a measure of outcome. Clinical measures of shoulder function, such as range of movement, provide a means to classify shoulder problems into subgroups and to assess change over time. However, they do not necessarily reflect patient well being or the ability to carry out usual activities. So the field is open for self completed questionnaires that assess symptom severity and the impact of shoulder pain on everyday living. At least four instruments that measure function in this way have appeared recently.3–7 They include one (th