Effect of positioning and bracing on passive position sense of shoulder joint

Objective: To examine the effects of positioning and sleeve type bracing on passive position sense of shoulder joints of healthy untrained subjects. Method: A cross over study was carried out on 26 subjects (13 male, 13 female) with a proprioception measurement device. The selected method of testing was passive reproduction of a target angle. Both shoulder joints of all the subjects were evaluated with and without a compressive neoprene sleeve type of brace at two different start positions (45° internal rotation, 75° external rotation) with an angular rotational movement at a constant speed of 0.5°/s. The angular displacements from the target angles at the end of the reproduction tests were recorded as position sense deficit scores. Results: The overall mean (SD) deficit score (0.99 (0.06)) was significantly (p<0.001) lower with the brace than without, and the overall mean deficit score was significantly (p<0.001) higher at the 45° internal rotation start position than at the 75° external rotation start position. However, there was no significant (p>0.05) interaction between brace application and start position. Conclusion: Terminal limits of range of motion facilitate the position sense of shoulder joints. Compressive brace application improves the passive positioning sense possibly by stimulating cutaneous mechanoreceptors.