Investigation of the pain factors of rotator cuff tears: a protocol for a scoping review v1

Abstract

Objective： The purpose of this scoping review was to investigate the factors associated with rotator cuff tear pain and summarize them into the incidence, exacerbating, and remitting factors. Introduction： Rotator cuff tears are one of the most common shoulder disorders. A variety of associated factors have been cited in observational studies, and systematic reviews have examined factors associated with symptomatic rotator cuff tears. However, no reports differentiate pain factors into developmental, exacerbating, and remitting factors. Inclusion/exclusion criteria： The study will include patients whose physicians have diagnosed non-traumatic rotator cuff tears using Magnetic Resonance Imaging or ultrasound echo. Outcomes will be a pain, the severity of rotator cuff tear, physical function, and psychological factors. The study design will be observational, with no restrictions on region, race, gender, or language of the original paper. Methods： A systematic search of PubMed, Embase, Web of Science, Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and Physiotherapy Evidence Database (PEDro) databases using the keywords “rotator cuff tear”, “pain”, and “etiology” will be conducted during May 2022. In the first screening step, two independent reviewers will review all of the titles and abstracts to exclude irrelevant articles. In the second screening step, two independent reviewers will review all of the full texts to exclude irrelevant articles. Outcomes will focus on rotator cuff tear severity, pain, physical function, and psychosocial factors, categorizing factors associated with pain according to each study design and identifying incidence factors, exacerbating factors and remission factors.