ArticleBrain and behavior2026
Shoulder Rotation Test: A New Test for Discriminating Between Functional and Structural Weakness.
Article in Brain and behavior, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundWhile many positive signs have been reported for diagnosing functional weakness (FW), additional signs are needed to enhance diagnostic accuracy. This study aims to describe and validate a new test, the "shoulder rotation test", to discriminate between FW and structural weakness (SW).
methodsWe retrospectively analyzed patients with FW or SW who presented with upper limb weakness. Inclusion criteria were that MRC scores of the shoulder internal rotation (IR) and external rotation (ER) were recorded, and that either or both were scored 4 or lower. The combination of the MRC scoring of IR and ER was named the "shoulder rotation test" and the results were classified into "weak IR with normal (MRC score of 5) ER", "weak IR and ER", and "normal IR with weak ER". The former two were combined into "weak IR".
resultsIn total, 29 patients with FW and 44 with SW were identified. Weak IR showed 100% sensitivity and 86% specificity for FW. Conversely, normal IR with weak ER, the complementary sign of weak IR, showed 86% sensitivity and 100% specificity for SW. Weak IR with normal ER showed 66% sensitivity and 100% specificity for FW.
conclusionsIR was preferentially weakened in FW, which is thought to be due to the preferential impairment of an "active" movement. In contrast, IR was not easily weakened in SW. The shoulder rotation test is a promising new test for discriminating between FW and SW of the upper limbs.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.