PURPOSE: The aim of the study is to investigate the effects of manual therapy on shoulder joint range of motion. The differences in the active range of motion of the shoulder joint with therapeutic exercise and manual therapy with therapeutic exercise was determined. Comparison between these two treatment protocols was made. METHODS: Subjects were randomly assigned to therapeutic exercise and manual therapy (group A) or therapeutic exercise alone (group B). Thirty-two subjects were included in the data analysis. Group A (n = 16) had nine men and seven women (mean age 57.9 +/- 9.5 years), and group B (n = 16) had 10 men and six women (mean age 54.9 +/- 5.4 years). Active range of motion of the affected shoulder joint in various physiological directions was used as the outcome measure for the study, namely shoulder elevation through flexion, eternal rotation, internal rotation, combined flexion, external rotation and abduction, and combined extension, internal rotation and adduction. High test-retest reliability was demonstrated in a pilot study (n = 10). Group A received standard sets of shoulder exercises and manual therapy. Group B received only the exercises similar to that of group A. Each subject attended the physiotherapy session once a week for five to eight weeks. Data were analysed using multivariate analysis to determine for interaction and main effects. Significance level was set to about 0.05. RESULT: There was no significant interaction between groups and sessions. The main effects did not demonstrate significant differences in the baseline and exit measurements between group A and group B. Group A and group B both made significant improvements in shoulder range of movement. CONCLUSION: The inclusion of manual therapy did not result in significant increase in shoulder movement for patients with stiff shoulder.

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