Return to recreational sports participation following rotator cuff repair in adults over 40 Years of age: outcomes and return to play analysis.

Background

Despite the high prevalence of rotator cuff (RTC) tears in older adults, there is limited literature evaluating the return to recreational sport after repair. The purpose of this study was (1) to assess the patient-reported outcomes and return to sport rates following rotator cuff repair in patients aged more than 40 years with minimum 2-year follow-up; (2) to compare baseline, preoperative and postoperative outcomes, and level of play following repair of self-reported athletes with nonathletes; and (3) to compare return to sport rates in overhead athletes compared to nonoverhead athletes.

Methods

Patients undergoing arthroscopic rotator cuff repair between January 2016 and January 2019 were screened for inclusion. Inclusion criteria included (1) age more than 40 years at the time of surgery, (2) arthroscopic repair of a full thickness RTC tear, and (3) preoperative American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons score (ASES) available. Eligible patients were contacted and invited to fill out a custom return to sport and patient-reported outcome survey.

Results

Overall, 375 of the 1141 eligible patients completed the survey instrument. There were 210 self-reported athletes (mean age 59.2 ± 9.55 years) and 165 nonathletes (mean age 62.0 ± 8.27 years) (

Conclusion

There is a high rate of return to sport activities (> 90%) in older adult recreational athletes following arthroscopic repair of full thickness RTC tears and rates of return to sport did not significantly differ for overhead and nonoverhead athletes. Self-reported athletes were noted to have higher baseline, preoperative, and postoperative ASES scores than nonathletes, but the mean ASES improvement following repair did not significantly differ between groups.

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