Does Rotator Cuff Repair Improve Psychologic Status and Quality of Life in Patients With Rotator Cuff Tear?

Recently, psychological status, patient-centered outcomes, and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) in patients with scheduled or who underwent orthopaedic surgeries have been emphasized. The relationship between preoperative psychological status and postoperative clinical outcome in patients with rotator cuff repair has not yet been investigated.

The primary objective of this study was to investigate changes in psychological status (depression, anxiety, insomnia) and HRQoL after rotator cuff repair. The secondary objective was to assess whether preoperative depression, anxiety, and insomnia predict clinical outcome after rotator cuff repair.

Forty-seven patients who underwent rotator cuff repair prospectively completed the visual analog scale (VAS) pain score, the UCLA Scale, the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons’ Scale (ASES), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), and the World Health Organization Quality-of-life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF) before surgery and at 3, 6, and 12 months after surgery. Repeated-measures analysis of variance was used to evaluate the serial changes in psychological parameters and outcome measurements. The chi-square test was also used to compare preoperative and postoperative prevalence of depression, anxiety, and insomnia. Finally, multiple regression analysis was applied to determine the relationship between preoperative psychological status and postoperative clinical outcome.

With surgery, depression, anxiety, and insomnia decreased, whereas quality of life increased. The mean HADS-D and HADS-A scores and the mean PSQI score decreased from 3.7 ± 3.3, 4.3 ± 4.3, and 6.6 ± 3.6, respectively, before surgery to 2.1 ± 2.3, 1.4 ± 2.4, and 4.2 ± 3.3, respectively, at 12 months after surgery (HADS-D mean difference 1.6 [95% confidence interval {CI}, 0.6–2.6], p = 0.003; HADS-A mean difference 2.9 [1.5–4.4], p < 0.001; PSQI mean difference 2.4 [1.3–3.4], p < 0.001). The mean WHOQOL-BREF score increased from 60.4 ± 11.0 before surgery to 67.4 ± 11.8 at 12 months after surgery (mean difference −7.0 [95% CI, −10.7 to −3.4], p < 0.001). At 12 months after surgery, there were decreases in the prevalence of depression (six of 47 [22.8%] versus three of 47 [6.4%], p = 0.002), anxiety (11 of 47 [23.4%] versus two of 47 [4.3%], p = 0.016), and insomnia (33 of 47 [70.2%] versus 20 of 47 [42.6%], p = 0.022). Preoperative HADS-depression, HADS-anxiety, and PSQI scores did not correlate with the VAS pain score, UCLA, or ASES scores at 12 months after surgery.

Psychological status and HRQoL improved with decreasing pain and increasing functional ability from 3 months after surgery. Preoperative depression, anxiety, and insomnia did not predict poor outcome after rotator cuff repair. Our findings suggest that successful rotator cuff repair may improve psychological status and HRQoL.

Level II, prospective study.