Effects of Aerobic Exercise on Shoulder Pain, Disability, and Ultrasonographic Outcomes in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus With Supraspinatus Tendinopathy

Condition(s) studied

Investigational drug(s) / intervention(s)

Conventional Shoulder Rehabilitation: Conventional physical therapy will be administered 5 days per week for 6 weeks (30 sessions). The program will include heat therapy, TENS, therapeutic ultrasound, and supervised shoulder-specific exercises, including range-of-motion, stretching, scapular stabilization, and rotator cuff strengthening exercises.

Aerobic Exercise: In addition to conventional shoulder rehabilitation, participants will perform moderate-intensity treadmill aerobic exercise (50-60% of heart rate reserve) 5 days per week for 6 weeks. Sessions will initially last 30 minutes (5-minute warm-up, 20-minute exercise, and 5-minute cool-down) and will increase to 40 minutes after Week 4. All sessions will be supervised by a physiotherapist and conducted according to appropriate safety protocols.

Study summary

Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a chronic disease characterized by elevated blood glucose levels over a prolonged period. If left untreated, it can lead to serious and long-term vascular and neurological complications. It is also a major cause of morbidity due to specific microvascular complications (retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy), macrovascular complications (ischemic heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease), and reduced quality of life.

There are studies in the literature investigating conventional and shoulder-specific treatments for various shoulder pathologies in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) . However, very few studies have investigated the effectiveness of aerobic exercise. The investigators identified only one study that evaluated the effects of aerobic exercise on pain and range of motion in patients with T2DM and adhesive capsulitis.

In the present study, the investigators aim to demonstrate that aerobic exercise results in statistically significant improvements in shoulder pain, functional disability, and the structural characteristics of the supraspinatus tendon, as assessed by ultrasonography and elastography, in participants with T2DM and supraspinatus tendinopathy. The investigators believe that the findings of this study will provide scientific evidence to support the development of more effective and comprehensive rehabilitation protocols for participants with diabetes and shoulder pain.

Eligibility

Primary outcome measure(s)

• Shoulder Pain Assessed by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) — Baseline (Week 0) and post-treatment (Week 6)
  Shoulder pain intensity will be assessed using the Visual Analog Scale (VAS). Participants will rate their pain on a 0-10 scale, where 0 indicates no pain and 10 indicates the worst imaginable pain. Higher scores indicate greater pain intensity.

Trial sites (1)

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