The effect of paralytic arm pain in the shoulder joint on the effectiveness of rehabilitation after stroke

Background and aim Post-stroke shoulder pain (PSSP) is a common impairment and occurs in approximately one-third of an unselected stroke population. Although PSSP can improve during rehabilitation, studies have shown that it can be a long-lasting or persistent problem. Patients with more severe paralysis of the arm are increasingly likely to develop shoulder pain. The aim of study was to investigate effectiveness of rehabilitation after stroke in individuals with and without PSSP. Methods The study consisted of 76 after stroke patients treated in the neurology department of rehabilitation clinic from 2017 February to 2018 March. The patients were divided into two groups of pain PSSP and non-PSSP. The data were collected using questionnaire, interviews, medical records before and after patient rehabilitation. Functional independence was measured by Functional Independence Measure (FIM) scale. Patients emotional health was evaluated by SF-36 questionnaire which was adapted for this study. Pain in the shoulder of paralytic arm was evaluated by pain scale from 0 to 10 when 0 – no pain and 10 – unbearable pain. Statistical analysis was performed with SPSS, p0,05) PSSP group vs non-PSSP group (337,43±48,63 → 458,83±73,54 vs 331,62±52,76 → 483,46±74,23). Conclusions Rehabilitation has statistically significant effect for patients after stroke with and without PSSP. The study has shown that shoulder pain intensity statistically significantly is increasing during period of time. This study has shown statistically significantly greater improvement of FIM in non-PSSP patients group tan in PSSP group. There was no statistically significant difference between groups for emotional and physical health