PURPOSE: To compare the short and medium-term effects of physiotherapy plus corticosteroid injection (combined) with physiotherapy alone on pain intensity, disability, Quality of Life (QoL), and treatment effectiveness in patients with Subacromial Pain Syndrome (SAPS). METHODS: In this double-blind, parallel randomized controlled trial (RCT), 50 patients with SAPS were randomly assigned into combined (n = 25, a single injection 3 to 6 days before physiotherapy) and physiotherapy alone group (n = 25). Pain, disability, QoL, and treatment-effectiveness were measured at pre-intervention, post-intervention, and 3 and 6-month follow-up with Visual Analog Scale (VAS), Shortened Disability of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand (Quick-DASH), Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) (primary outcome measure), Western Ontario Rotator Cuff (WORC), and Global Rating of Change (GRC) respectively. A 2 x 4 (group x time) mixed model analysis of variance (ANOVA) was applied for analysis. RESULTS: The ANOVA revealed statistically significant group-in-time interaction for all outcome measures (p < 0.05). The independent t-test showed more effectiveness in the combined group at medium-term, as the mean scores of almost all outcome measures were substantially lesser (p < 0.01). Moreover, in short-time, despite a greater number of patients stating "completely recovered" in the combined group, there was no statistically significant difference between groups. CONCLUSIONS: Effects of physiotherapy plus corticosteroid injection could be more long-lasting than physiotherapy alone in improving pain intensity, disability, QoL, and treatment effectiveness in patients with SAPS.

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