Abstract:
Purpose: The purpose of the study was to explore the prevalence of shoulder pain
among tetraplegia patients attended at CRP. Objectives: To calculate number of all
th th
tetraplegia patients with shoulder pain from 10 February 2013 to 7 April 2013
among all tetraplegia patients and percentage of this proportion; to explore socio
demographic characteristics (age, sex, residential area) of tetraplegia patients with
shoulder pain; to measure the severity of shoulder pain with find out aggravating and
ease factors. Methodology: A quantitative (cross sectional) research model in the form
of a prospective type survey design is carried out in this study. 70 tetraplegia patients
were conveniently selected from SCI unit of CRP, Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The
tools used to collect data included direct interview, a body discomfort assessment tool
that consists of Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) and a questionnaire. Data was collected
by mixed type questionnaire and confidentiality of information and voluntarily
participation were ensured by the researcher. Data were numerically coded and
captured in Microsoft Excel 10, using an SPSS 16.0 version program. Results: The
finding of the study provides a baseline of information about prevalence of Shoulder
pain among tetraplegia patients. The result of the study shows that, the prevalence of
shoulder pain is (61.40%), among the tetraplegia patients attended at CRP. Among the
cases gender distribution, male (65.10%) and female (34.90%). The most affected age
range is 30-35years of age (30.29%). The severity of pain among the cases includes
moderate pain (65.10%), mild pain (14%) and severe pain is (20.90%). Most of the participants (86%) pain had increased during movement whenever only (14%) patient's pain had increased during rest. The study found that the (32.60%) patient's
pain has radiated and most of the radiating pain was shoulder to elbow (55.1%).
Conclusion: From this study it is concluded that shoulder pain is the common
problem of tetraplegia patients. Prevention of shoulder pain is beneficial for
tetraplegia patients. To prevent shoulder pain, we should focus on awareness about
the prevalence of shoulder pain among tetraplegia patients and greater attention to be
given to other risk factors such as history of shoulder injury and perception of health
status after spinal cord injury.
