Background: Stretch-oriented home exercise programs are often used as treatments for patients with adhesive capsulitis; however, there is lack of research on home exercise programs to strengthen rotator cuffs.
Objects: The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of home exercise programs for rotator cuff strengthening on pain, range of motion (ROM), disability level, and quality of life in patients with adhesive capsulitis.
Methods: Twenty-two patients with adhesive capsulitis volunteered to participate in this study. The subjects were randomly divided into an experimental group (n = 11) and control group (n = 11). For the experimental group, manual therapy and home exercise programs for rotator cuff strengthening were applied for 6 weeks; for the control group, only manual therapy was applied for 6 weeks. Shoulder pain (quadruple visual analogue scale, QVAS), ROM, disability (shoulder pain and disability index-Korean version, SPADI), and quality of life (world health organization quality of life scale-Korean version, WHOQOL-BREF) were evaluated at baseline, after 3 weeks, and after 6 weeks of intervention. The changes in the measurement variables were analyzed by using repeated measure analysis of variance.
Results: Significant differences were observed between the experimental group and control group in the QVAS; SPADI-pain scores; SPADI-disability scores; SPADI-total scores; flexion, abduction, internal and external rotation ROM of the glenohumeral joint; and WHOQOLBREF total, overall, physical health, and psychological scores. All groups displayed statistically significant improvements as observed in the QVAS, SPADI, flexion, abduction, external and internal rotation ROM of the glenohumeral joint, and WHOQOL-BREF.
Conclusion: Home exercise programs for rotator cuff strengthening had a positive impact on shoulder pain, shoulder ROM, disability level, and quality of life in patients with adhesive capsulitis. Therefore, we propose the use of home exercise programs for rotator cuff strengthening in the exercise rehabilitation of patients with adhesive capsulitis.

INTRODUCTION
MATERIALS AND METHODS
RESULTS
DISCUSSION
CONCLUSIONS
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
REFERENCES

• 오병환(대전대학교 보건의료대학원 물리치료학과) | Byeong-hwan Oh (Department of Physical Therapy, Graduate School of Health and Medicine, Daejeon University)
• 김선엽(대전대학교 보건의료과학대학 물리치료학과) | Suhn-yeop Kim (Department of Physical Therapy, College of Health & Medical Science, Daejeon University, Daejeon, Korea) Corresponding Author