Personal and social factors may account for much of the variation in patient reported outcome scores, yet little evidence exists on how psychological properties affect patient outcomes following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty (rTSA). The objective of this study is to determine if resilience, characterised by the ability to return to a healthy level of function after experiencing stress, correlates with patient reported outcome scores after rTSA.

Resilience score will correlate positively with patient reported outcomes after rTSA.

Seventy-three patients were identified that had undergone primary rTSA with minimum 2-year follow-up (4.7±1.8). These patients completed a phone survey that included the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS), a measure of general resilience in all aspects of life, along with American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeon (ASES), Penn, and Single Assessment Numerical Evaluation (SANE) scores. Mean outcome scores were calculated to identify any correlation between resilience and clinical outcomes.

The mean BRS score was 23.8±4.8 (range 12.0–30.0), with 41 patients classified as normal resilience (NR), 17 patients as low resilience (LR), and 15 as high resilience (HR). Postoperative BRS scores correlated with ASES (r=0.31, p=0.008), Penn (r=0.25, p=0.03), and SANE score (r=0.32, p=0.007). The mean ASES score was 14.0 points lower in the LR group (77.0 points), compared to the HR group (91.0 points; p=0.04). Similarly, the LR group had a mean SANE score that was 18.6 points lower than the HR group (73.4 and 91.9 points, respectively; p=0.021).

The observation that greater general life resilience correlates with lower pain intensity, lesser magnitude of limitations, and perception of greater normality of the shoulder after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty emphasises the importance of addressing personal and social health opportunities along with the physical in musculoskeletal care. Resilience may be a useful predictor of outcomes following rTSA.

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