Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI)
Source: Roach KE, Budiman-Mak E, Songsiridej N, Lertratanakul Y. Development of a shoulder pain and
disability index. Arthritis Care Res. 1991 Dec;4(4):143-9.
The Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI) is a self-administered questionnaire that consists of two
dimensions, one for pain and the other for functional activities. The pain dimension consists of five questions
regarding the severity of an individual's pain. Functional activities are assessed with eight questions
designed to measure the degree of difficulty an individual has with various activities of daily living that require
upper-extremity use. The SPADI takes 5 to 10 minutes for a patient to complete and is the only reliable and
valid region-specific measure for the shoulder.
Scoring instructions
To answer the questions, patients place a mark on a 10cm visual analogue scale for each question. Verbal
anchors for the pain dimension are ‘no pain at all’ and ‘worst pain imaginable’, and those for the functional
activities are ‘no difficulty’ and ‘so difficult it required help’. The scores from both dimensions are averaged to
derive a total score.
Interpretation of scores
Total pain score: / 50 x 100 = %
(Note: If a person does not answer all questions divide by the total possible score, eg. if 1 question missed
divide by 40)
Total disability score:
/ 80 x 100 = %
(Note: If a person does not answer all questions divide by the total possible score, eg. if 1 question missed
divide by 70)
Total Spadi score:
/ 130 x 100 = %
(Note: If a person does not answer all questions divide by the total possible score, eg. if 1 question missed
divide by 120)
The means of the two subscales are averaged to produce a total score ranging from 0 (best) to 100 (worst).
Minimum Detectable Change (90% confidence) = 13 points
(Change less than this may be attributable to measurement error)
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Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI)
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Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI)
Please place a mark on the line that best represents your experience during the last week attributable to
your shoulder problem.
Pain scale
How severe is your pain?
Circle the number that best describes your pain where: 0 = no pain and 10 = the worst pain imaginable.
At its worst? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
When lying on the involved side? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Reaching for something on a high shelf? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Touching the back of your neck? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Pushing with the involved arm? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Disability scale
How much difficulty do you have?
Circle the number that best describes your experience where: 0 = no difficulty and 10 = so difficult it requires
help.
Washing your hair? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Washing your back? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Putting on an undershirt or jumper? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Putting on a shirt that buttons down the front? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Putting on your pants? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Placing an object on a high shelf? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Carrying a heavy object of 10 pounds (4.5 kilograms) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Removing something from your back pocket? 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
