ArticleClinics in shoulder and elbow2024
Doctor shopping trend of patients before undergoing rotator cuff repair in Korea: a multicenter study.
Article in Clinics in shoulder and elbow, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed.
- Current management of impingement syndrome and repairable rotator cuff tears in South Korea: A web-based survey.Asia-Pacific journal of sports medicine, arthroscopy, rehabilitation and technology · 2026Article
- Hyperlipidemia and Rotator Cuff Tears: Exploring Mechanisms and Effective Treatment.Clinics in orthopedic surgery · 2025Review
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Authors and funding
12 authors.
Funding
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Abstract
backgroundThis study aims to investigate the trend of doctor shopping among patients with rotator cuff tear (RCT) before undergoing surgery and to examine the relevance of these findings to the public.
methodsA survey was conducted of 326 patients from 10 hospitals (male, 176; female, 150) who underwent arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ARCR) for symptomatic RCT between September 2019 and February 2020. A questionnaire was used to obtain data regarding the type of medical care service, medical institutions visited before surgery, number of treatments received, and cost of treatment.
resultsA total of 326 patients (87%) received treatment at least once at another medical institution before visiting the hospital where the surgery was performed. Patients visited an average of 9.4 health providers or physicians for shoulder pain before visiting the hospital where surgery was performed. Among the 326 patients, 148 (45%) visited more than two medical institutions and spent an average of 641,983 Korean won (KRW; $466, 50,000-5,000,000 KRW) before surgery. Medical expenses before surgery were proportional to the number of medical institutions visited (P=0.002), symptom duration (P=0.002), and initial visual analog scale (VAS) pain score (P=0.007) but were not associated with sex, age, VAS pain score immediately before surgery, or RCT size.
conclusionsMedical expense before ARCR was associated with the severity of preoperative pain and duration of symptoms. After onset of shoulder symptoms, patients should visit as soon as possible a hospital that has surgeons who specialize in shoulder repair to prevent unnecessary medical expense and proper treatment. Level of evidence: IV.
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