Gareth Whelan, Gillian Yeowell, Chris Littlewood
Abstract
Frozen shoulder is a condition associated with severe shoulder pain and loss of function impacting on a persons’ physical and mental health. Hydrodistension treatment that has been widely adopted within the UK National Health Service for the condition.
Introduction
Frozen shoulder is a condition associated with severe pain, sleep disturbance, and a loss of function in the affected arm [1]. These symptoms are persistent for many, lasting over 12 months with about 20% of people not fully recovering [2]. The persistent nature of symptoms has been reported to have a significant effect on physical and mental health with those affected reporting loss of independence, functional capability, and an altered sense of self [3, 4].
Materials and Methods
A qualitative research design with repeat semi-structured interviews was undertaken to investigate the aim. This qualitative interview study is the first step in a planned multi-methods programme of research that is presented within a pragmatic framework.
Result
Eighteen people gave consent to be contacted for the study. Fifteen participants were interviewed. The reasons for non-inclusion of the other three participants were failure to respond to contact.
Discussion
This study explored the lived experience of having a hydrodistension as a treatment for frozen shoulder. Three key themes were identified: ‘preparing for and having a hydrodistension’, ‘physiotherapy after having a hydrodistension’, and ‘outcome of having a hydrodistension’.
Conclusion
This is the first study to investigate the experiences of people who undergo hydrodistension treatment for frozen shoulder. People with frozen shoulder are likely to choose to have a hydrodistension based upon the idea that the treatment will have a mechanical effect on the shoulder.
Citation: Whelan G, Yeowell G, Littlewood C (2024) Patient experiences of hydrodistension as a treatment for frozen shoulder: A longitudinal qualitative study. PLoS ONE 19(6): e0304236. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0304236
Editor: Alejandro Botero Carvajal, Universidad Santiago de Cali, COLOMBIA
Received: November 27, 2023; Accepted: May 8, 2024; Published: June 14, 2024
Copyright: © 2024 Whelan et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Data Availability: Psuedonomysed excerpts of transcripts relevant to the study are made available within the paper. The remaining pseudonomysed transcript data are subject to the study sponsor’s (York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust) data access policy. These data will be retained for a period of five years as per the organisational policy. Requests for access to the data should be made in writing to the sponsor: Dr Deborah Phillips Head of Research Operations York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust York Hospital Wiggington Road York YO31 8HE Email: deborah.phillips23@nhs.net.
Funding: GW, Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow, NIHR301881 is funded by Health Education England (HEE) / NIHR for this research project. The views expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NIHR, NHS or the UK Department of Health and Social Care. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.
Competing interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
Source: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0304236#abstract0
