1999 Diagnostic classification of shoulder disorders

Description: Only moderate agreement was found on the classification of shoulder disorders, which implies that differentiation between the various categories of shoulder disorders is complicated. Especially patients with high pain severity, chronic complaints and bilateral involvement represent a diagnostic challenge for clinicians. As diagnostic classification is a guide for treatment decisions, unsatisfactory reproducibility might affect treatment outcome. To improve the reproducibility, more insight into the reproducibility of clinical findings and the value of additional diagnostic procedures is needed.
Diagnostic classification of shoulder disorders: interobserver agreement and determinants of disagreement. de Winter AF, Jans MP, Scholten RJ, Devillé W, van Schaardenburg D, Bouter LM. Ann Rheum Dis. 1999 May;58(5):272-7.