Education can reassure people with rotator cuff–related shoulder pain: a 3-arm, randomised, online experiment

Abstract

Abstract We aimed to investigate the immediate effect of best practice education (with and without pain science messages) and structure-focused education on reassurance among people with rotator cuff–related shoulder pain. We conducted a 3-arm, parallel-group, randomised experiment. People with rotator cuff–related shoulder pain were randomised (1:1:1) to (1) best practice education (highlights that most shoulder pain is not serious or a good indicator of tissue damage and recommends simple self-management strategies); (2) best practice education plus pain science messages (which attempt to improve understanding of pain); and (3) structure-focused education (highlighting that structural changes are responsible for pain and should be targeted with treatment). Coprimary outcomes were self-reported reassurance that no serious condition is causing their pain and continuing with daily activities is safe. Secondary outcomes measured management intentions, credibility and relevance of the education, and similarity to previous education. Two thousand two hundred thirty-seven participants were randomised and provided primary outcome data. Best practice education increased reassurance that no serious condition is causing their pain (estimated mean effect 0.5 on a 0-10 scale, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.2-0.7) and continuing with daily activities is safe (0.6, 95% CI 0.3-0.8) compared with structure-focused education. Adding pain science messages to best practice education slightly increased both measures of reassurance (0.2, 95% CI 0.0-0.4). Clinicians treating patients with rotator cuff–related shoulder pain should highlight that most shoulder pain is not serious or a good indicator of tissue damage and recommend simple self-management strategies. The benefit of adding pain science messages is small.