Rotator cuff disease is a common cause of shoulder pain. Comorbidities such as diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia may be associated with rotator cuff disease, likely because of mechanisms related to vascular insufficiency.

We performed a systematic review of the association of diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia with the diagnosis of rotator cuff disease.

Following systematic queries of PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, and Science Direct, articles meeting eligibility criteria and reporting on the association of one or more risk factors (diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia) and rotator cuff disease were considered. Meta-analysis was performed to quantitatively summarize the associations between each risk factor and rotator cuff disease. We assessed study quality with the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale (NOS) and performed a qualitative assessment of risk of bias.

After a full-text review of 212 articles, 12 articles assessing diabetes, 5 assessing hypertension and 8 assessing hyperlipidemia were eligible. The odds of having rotator cuff disease was increased with diabetes (odds ratio [OR] 1.49, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.43–1.55), hypertension (OR 1.40, 95% CI 1.19–1.65) and hyperlipidemia/dyslipidemia (OR 1.48, 95% CI 1.42–1.55). Diabetes was also specifically associated with rotator cuff tears (OR 1.28, 95% CI 1.07–1.52). Synthesizing assessment for risk of bias suggested that current epidemiologic evidence for an association was plausible for diabetes and hyperlipidemia but not hypertension.

Diabetes, hypertension, and hyperlipidemia were associated with rotator cuff disease in our meta-analysis. However, the possibility of bias exists for all 3 co-morbidities evaluated and is likely highest for hypertension. High-quality studies with the ability to incorporate time since first diagnosis of co-morbidity are scarce and much needed.