School of Medicine Publications
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-9-2026
Abstract
Background: Adhesive capsulitis, or frozen shoulder, is a condition characterized by pain and restricted motion in the shoulder joint. Diabetes is one of the core risk factors for the condition, and obesity has been demonstrated to decrease the age of onset in patients with adhesive capsulitis. This study aims to investigate the prevalence of diabetes and obesity in patients diagnosed with adhesive capsulitis in the Rio Grande Valley, a region with a high prevalence of metabolic disorders.
Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 836 cases of diagnosed adhesive capsulitis. Clinical data regarding shoulder involvement, diabetes status, and obesity measurements were analyzed. Multivariable logistic regression was performed to evaluate independent predictors of bilateral adhesive capsulitis, including diabetes, obesity, age, and sex.
Results: A total of 786 unique patients, with 836 shoulders affected, met inclusion criteria for adhesive capsulitis, with 49 of those patients having bilateral disease. The mean age was 58.92 ± 11.00 years, and 66.4% were female. Ethnicity was recorded for 782 patients, of whom 89.6% (n = 701) identified as Hispanic/Latino. According to BMI measurements, 51.0% of patients were obese, 34.8% were overweight, 13.6% were of healthy weight, and 0.6% were underweight. Diabetes was present in 15.3% (n = 120) of patients. On multivariable analysis, bilateral adhesive capsulitis was significantly more common among diabetic patients, with regression showing an independently associated significant risk (adjusted OR 3.41, 95% CI 1.85-6.30, p < 0.001). Obese patients presented at a younger age than non-obese patients (57.9 vs 60.4 years, p = 0.002).
Conclusion: This study highlights the high prevalence of diabetes and obesity in patients with adhesive capsulitis in the Rio Grande Valley, reinforcing the potential metabolic component in the condition's pathogenesis. Addressing these metabolic risk factors may improve adhesive capsulitis outcomes and overall patient health in similar high-risk populations.
Recommended Citation
Khalil, M., Gutierrez, Y., Martin, B. C., Bonazza, N., Schenck, R., & Ahmad, A. (2026). Metabolic Disease Trends With Adhesive Capsulitis in South Texas High-Risk Majority Hispanic Populations. Cureus, 18(10), e117682. https://doi.org/10.7759/cureus.117682
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Publication Title
Cureus
DOI
10.7759/cureus.117682
Academic Level
faculty
Mentor/PI Department
Surgery
Comments
© Copyright 2026 Khalil et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License CC-BY 4.0., which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.