People with diabetes are more likely to develop frozen shoulder, according to a systematic review and meta-analysis published online Jan. 4 in BMJ Open.
Brett Paul Dyer, from the School of Medicine at Keele University in the United Kingdom, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review and meta-analysis to assess whether diabetes (types 1 and 2) is a risk factor for frozen shoulder.
Overall, eight studies were included in the review. The researchers found that based on six case-control studies (5,388 people), the odds of developing frozen shoulder for people with diabetes were 3.69 times greater than for people without diabetes. In addition, two cohort studies were included and each revealed that diabetes was associated with frozen shoulder (hazard ratios, 1.32 and 1.67). Seven of the eight studies included had a high risk for bias, and one had a moderate risk for bias.
"Given the existing evidence that has been summarized in this review, clinicians should consider checking whether patients with diabetes are experiencing shoulder pain at their routine follow-up appointments," the authors write. "An early diagnosis will help the clinician to provide treatment for the pain and lack of function that result from frozen shoulder."
