In a study from Keele University in the United Kingdom, scientists found that people with diabetes are more likely to develop frozen shoulders.
Frozen shoulder is a condition characterized by stiffness and pain in the shoulder joint.
The condition occurs more commonly in people with diabetes and in people who’ve kept their arms immobilized for a long period of time.
Symptoms may start gradually and resolve within one or two years.
Treatment involves stretching and sometimes injecting corticosteroids and numbing medication into the joint capsule. In some cases, surgery is used to loosen the joint capsule.
The team conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis to assess whether diabetes (types 1 and 2) is a risk factor for a frozen shoulder. Overall, eight studies were included in the review.
The researchers found that based on six studies (5,388 people), the risk of developing a frozen shoulder for people with diabetes was 3.69 times greater than for people without diabetes.
In addition, two cohort studies were included, and each showed that diabetes was linked to a frozen shoulder.
Seven of the eight studies included had a high risk for bias, and one had a moderate risk for bias.
The team says given the existing evidence that has been summarized in this review, doctors should consider checking whether patients with diabetes are experiencing shoulder pain at their routine follow-up appointments.
An early diagnosis will help the clinician to provide treatment for the pain and lack of function that result from a frozen shoulder.
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The study was conducted by Brett Paul Dyer et al and published in BMJ Open.
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