Sleep postures might be hypothesized as a potential risk factor for the prevalence of rotator cuff tendinopathy and glenohumeral shoulder pain. This cross-sectional study evaluated the same and found out that the positions confounded for the same were protective for both these shoulder related complications.

Rotator cuff tendinopathy (RCT) and Glenohumeral pain are prevalent musculoskeletal ailments with a high prevalence amongst working populations. The principal stated pathophysiologic mechanisms are decreased tendon blood flow and sub-acromial RC tendon impingement. Some sleep positions may contribute to these proposed mechanisms by raising subacromial pressure. This analysis utilizes a large population of workers to examine whether there is a relationship of rotator cuff tendinopathy and shoulder pain prevalence with preferred sleeping position.

With the help of a body diagram, 761 workers were evaluated through a questionnaire for the glenohumeral pain within 30 days before enrollment to the study. The questionnaire included diagrams of 6 selected primary and secondary sleep positions. To determine the presence of RCT in the study participants a structured physical examination was conducted. The glenohumeral pain plus at least one of a positive supraspinatus test, Neer’s test and the painful arc were considered as the case definition of RCT in this investigation. The odds ratio was calculated for the determined prevalence of RCT and glenohumeral pain due to both primary and secondary sleep positions.

Glenohumeral pain showed a significant connection with sex, age, BMI and Framingham cardiovascular risk score, and Rotator cuff tendinopathy showed associations with Hand Activity Level (HAL), increasing age, and Framingham risk score. The anticipation for sleeping posture to have the greatest risk of glenohumeral pain found to be opposite during the analysis. That posture found to lower the glenohumeral pain prevalence and protective for RCT occurrence. No further considerable relationships were seen during multivariable logistic regression.

An unexpected decreased association was found between glenohumeral pain and sleep position. One of the explanations can be that the participants with RCT and glenohumeral pain might have learned to avoid sleeping in the position liable for causing these complications. Therefore, it is important to carry out longitudinal studies over a short or long period to precisely investigate the potential relationship between glenohumeral pain and sleep postures as a possible risk factor.