THE DROP ARM SIGN TO DETECT FULL THICKNESS ROTATOR CUFF TEARS The Drop Arm Test or Drop Arm Sign is a very common test that is used in the diagnosis of full thickness rotator cuff tears. But how useful is this test really? Miller et al. (2008) evaluated its diagnostic accuracy and found a sensitivity of 73% and a specificity of 77%. This means that this test only alters the post-test probability to a small degree with a LR of 3.2 and a LR- of 0.34 and a full-thickness tear of the supra- and/or i

What does a positive drop arm test look like? Test ratings: Sensitivity: 7.8 % Specificity: 97.2 % With a very high specificity... a positive test is VERY GOOD for ruling rotator cuff tears in! (particularly the supraspinatus) WHY? Remember the SPIN / SNOUT rule ;) (http://jcphysiotherapy.com/blog/the-snout-and-spin-rule-explained/) EXTRA: Notice how the patient hitches the shoulder up automatically, a typical pain associated movement. Also due to this patients age we can assume degeneration of