Motor Imagery Ability and its Relationship with Psychosocial and Motor Variables in Patients with Chronic Shoulder Pain: A Cross-Sectional Study

ObjectiveTo assess the ability to generate both kinesthetic and visual motor imagery in participants with chronic shoulder pain, compared with asymptomatic subjects. To assess the influence of psychosocial and motor variables in the motor imagery process. MethodsA cross-sectional observational study was conducted with a non-probability sample of 30 participants, divided into 15 patients with chronic shoulder pain and 15 asymptomatic subjects. Participants completed socio-demographic questionnaires, followed by assessment of mental imagery and mental chronometry using the MIQ-R questionnaire, as well as range of motion and grip strength. ResultsOur results indicated that patients with chronic shoulder pain had difficulty generating kinesthetic and visual MI (p<0.05; d>0.80) and also took a longer time to imagine them (p<0.05; d>-0.80). A moderate-positive association was found between the levels of CPSS and the kinesthetic motor imagery ability (r=0.54, p=0.035), explaining 24.5% of the variance. In addition, a moderate-positive association was also found between the strength of the affected upper limb with the total score of MIQ-R (r=0.56, p=0.037), explaining 25.7% of the variance. ConclusionsBased on the obtained results, it seems that patients with chronic shoulder pain have greater difficulty with generating both kinesthetic and visual motor images compared to asymptomatic subjects, and they also needed more time to perform the mental tasks. It was found that psychosocial state and motor condition may influence the imagining ability of patients with chronic shoulder pain. Further research is needed to improve our understanding and to be able to establish clinical implications.