Effects of 7-Week Shoulder Exercise Intervention on Joint Mobility, Strength and Function in Diabetics and Non-Diabetics

In the United States, the prevalence of diabetes has increased from 5.5% to 9.3% within past decades [1] with the disease currently affecting 29.1 million people [2]. Diabetes is commonly associated with conditions such as cardiovascular disease and long-term negative effects on various organs in the body such as kidneys and eyes [3]. However, diabetes has also been shown to affect the musculoskeletal system [4-9]. Diabetics are four times more likely to have musculoskeletal disorders compared to non-diabetics [6] with the shoulder being one of the joints most affected by the disease [10]. Previous studies show that diabetics have higher prevalence of shoulder pain and injuries compared to non-diabetics [6,7,10-14]. Specifically, diabetics are 3-9 times more likely to have frozen capsulitis and 5 times more likely to have rotator cuff tears compared to non-diabetics [4,12,15]. Additionally, diabetics are reported to have thickened supraspinatus and biceps tendons [16] along with decreased ROM in shoulder abduction and flexion [4,5] an impaired tendon-bone healing capacity [17] and difficulty regaining range of motion (ROM) after a surgery [18,19].