Intra- and interexaminer reliability of four manual shoulder maneuvers used to identify subacromial pain

Kajsa Johansson, Sören Ivarson

The objective of the study was to assess intra- and interexaminer reliability for four manual shoulder maneuvers; the Neer impingement sign, the Hawkins–Kennedy impingement test, the Patte maneuver, the Jobe supraspinatus test. Thirty-three participants with shoulder pain had the four maneuvers were performed by a physiotherapist within a week from inclusion. After a week, the maneuvers were performed again by the same physical therapist (test–retest) and by another physical therapist (test for interexaminer reliability).

Neer impingement sign, Hawkins–Kennedy impingement test, Patte maneuver as well as Jobe supraspinatus test, are highly reproducible and therefore reliable to use in clinical practice to identify patients with subacromial pain with an impingement phenomenon, but the maneuvers are limited as structural discriminators.

Manual Therapy, 2009, 14(2), 231-239

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