Effects of Yi Jin Bang Exercise and Usual Exercise Therapy in Adults With Subacromial Pain Syndrome

Summary

Shoulder pain is the third most common type of musculoskeletal disorder after back and neck pain in primary care. The prevalence of shoulder pain has been reported between 7% and 26% in the general population, with a life prevalence of up to 67%. The most common cause of shoulder pain is subacromial pain syndrome (SAPS), accounting for 44-60% of all shoulder disorders. Pain caused by SAPS can cause functional impairment and heavy social burden. Before recommending surgery, exercise therapy should be used as the first choice to treat SAPS. Several systematic reviews suggested that supervised exercise therapy can effectively improve the function and pain of patients with SAPS, while several other systematic reviews illustrated that the equal effectiveness of supervised exercises and home-based exercises. Supervised exercise therapy requires substantial and specific resources and may be difficult to apply clinically. Thus, a home-based self-training program may allow individuals to treat SAPS with affordable and easily accessible treatments.

The use of complementary and alternative medicine treatment is growing continuously. Yi Jin Bang is a form of mind-body exercise and was developed in Hong Kong in the 1950s based on the principle of traditional Chinese mind-body exercise "Yi Jin Jing". In Chinese, Yi means change, Jin means tendons and sinews, while Bang means stick. As with all other Chinese medical exercises, the focus of Yi Jin Bang is on the cultivation of Qi (energy), which is assumed to harmonize mind and body and so might reduce pain. After reorganizing by physiotherapists, Yi Jin Bang has now become an easy-to-learn exercise program. Many scientific studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of mind-body exercises on pain, such as yoga, Tai Chi, and Qigong. However, the efficacy of Yi Jin Bang exercise in SAPS is not scientifically evaluated. Therefore, the purpose of the present study is to compare the effectiveness of ten weeks of home-based Yi Jin Bang exercise, versus home-based stretching and strengthening exercise, and versus waitlist control on pain, disability, flexibility, and muscular endurance in adults with SAPS. This study hypothesized that home-based Yi Jin Bang exercise and home-based stretching and strengthening exercise have similar effects in reducing pain and disability and improving flexibility and muscular endurance for individuals with SAPS.

Conditions

• Subacromial Pain Syndrome

Interventions

BEHAVIORAL

10-week home-based Yi Jin Bang exercise program

Each participant in this group will do a home-based Yi Jin Bang exercise program four times a week for ten consecutive weeks, which consists of ten minutes of warm-up, 18 minutes of Yi Jin Bang exercise (ten exercises), and ten minutes of cool-down. To learn how to conduct the home-based exercise session, each participant will be invited to one introductory session before starting the prescribed exercise program. Two experienced Yi Jin Bang instructors will lead the introductory session. Besides, in order to monitor participants' adherence and help them to conduct self-training, we will use the Zoom Meeting application. Zoom can capture and record participants' movements through the webcam. During the introduction sessions, we will teach participants how to use Zoom. Furthermore, we will provide support for adherence to the home exercise sessions through telephone calls or e-mail every two weeks.

BEHAVIORAL

10-week home-based usual exercise therapy program

Among exercise therapy in the treatment of SAPS, stretching and strengthening protocols are often used . Therefore, participants in this group will do a standardized home-based stretching and strengthening exercise program four times per week for ten weeks, which is set up according to a previous study. This program has been demonstrated that can be effective in reducing pain and improving function in patients with SAPS. For strengthening exercises, elastic bands will be used. To learn how to conduct the self-training program, each participant in this group will also be invited to one introductory session before starting the prescribed exercise training. Two certificated physiotherapists will lead the introductory session. In addition, a video demonstration clip will be given to each participant to provide a home reference, and the Zoom Meeting application will be used to help monitor the exercise.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Chinese University of Hong Kong

  lead OTHER

Principal Investigators

• Stanley Sai-chuen Hui, EdD · Chinese University of Hong Kong

Study Design

Allocation

RANDOMIZED

Purpose

TREATMENT

Masking

SINGLE

Model

PARALLEL

Eligibility

Min Age

18 Years

Max Age

65 Years

Sex

ALL

Healthy Volunteers

No

Timeline & Regulatory

Start

2022-03-01

Primary Completion

2022-06-01

Completion

2022-07-15

Countries

• Hong Kong

Study Locations