Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI)

Shoulder pain and disability index (SPADI) is used to measure current shoulder pain and disability in an outpatient setting.

The SPADI consists of 13 items that assess two sections:

1. 5-item subscale that measures shoulder pain
2. 8-item subscale that measures shoulder disability.

SPADI can be used in the following patients:

1. Shoulder pain
2. Rotator cuff disease
3. Osteoarthritis
4. Rheumatoid arthritis
5. Frozen Shoulder
6. Shoulder arthroplasty

Users are asked to rate their shoulder pain and disability on 13 items, each on a VAS from 0 (no pain/difficulty) to 100 (worst pain imaginable/so difficult requires help). Eight items relate to physical function, and 5 items relate to pain symptoms.

In each subscale patients may mark one item only as not applicable and the item is omitted from the total score. If a patient marks more than two items as non applicable, no score is calculated.

A total score out of 100 is calculated, with higher scores representing more disability.

See Also: Shoulder Examination

Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) Items

Pain scale

How severe is your pain?

1. At its worst?
2. When lying on the involved side?
3. Reaching for something on a high shelf?
4. Touching the back of your neck?
5. Pushing with the involved arm?

A scale from 0 to 10 is chosen, where: 0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain imaginable.

Disability scale

How much difficulty do you have?

1. Washing your hair?
2. Washing your back?
3. Putting on an undershirt or jumper?
4. Putting on a shirt that buttons down the front?
5. Putting on your pants?
6. Placing an object on a high shelf?
7. Carrying a heavy object of 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms)?
8. Removing something from your back pocket?

A scale from 0 to 10 is chosen, where: 0 = no difficulty and 10 = so difficult it requires help.

See Also: Penn Shoulder Score

Total score described as a percentage, resulting from the summation of each component. Overall total scores range from 0 to 130 with a percentage score of 0 indicating less shoulder disability and 100 indicating more shoulder dysfunction.

Download Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) PDF File

References

• Roy JS, MacDermid JC, Woodhouse LJ. Measuring shoulder function: a systematic review of four questionnaires. Arthritis Rheum. 2009 May 15;61(5):623-32. doi: 10.1002/art.24396. PMID: 19405008.
• Breckenridge JD, McAuley JH. Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI). J Physiother. 2011;57(3):197. doi: 10.1016/S1836-9553(11)70045-5. PMID: 21843839. Pubmed
• Netter’s Orthopaedic Clinical Examination An Evidence-Based Approach 3rd Edition Book.