H-Wave device stimulation benefits chronic shoulder pain in an observational cohort study of patient-reported outcome measures.

Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) studies for H-Wave device stimulation (HWDS) for chronic low back and neck pain (cLBP, cNP) have been promising, so a retrospective statistical analysis of chronic shoulder pain (cSP) patients was conducted. Surveys from a cohort of 34,192 pain patients, filtered for chronicity of 3-36 months and device use of 22-365 days, resulted in 1496 with "all shoulder" diagnoses, including 772 rotator cuff disorder patients. Reported shoulder pain dropped 3.17 points (0-10 pain scale), with significant (≥ 20%) relief in 89.73%. Reported function/activities of daily living (ADL) improved in 96.40% and work performance in 84.86%. Medications decreased in 74.61% and sleep improved in 59.89%. Over 96% patient satisfaction and no adverse events were reported. Subgroup analyses found benefit with longer device use and shorter pain chronicity, while rotator cuff outcomes were equivalent to all shoulder conditions. Similarly positive outcomes were self-reported by cSP patients as for previously published cLBP and cNP patients, suggesting device appropriateness beyond spinal conditions. HWDS may have contributed to effective cSP relief and improvements in function and ADL, while also improving sleep and work performance. Medication reduction (e.g., opioids) in 3 of 4 shoulder patients was higher than reported for low back and neck conditions.