Glenohumeral Instability and Arm Pain in Overhead Throwing Athletes: A Correlational Study.
Max Wardell, Doug Creighton, Carter Kovalcik
PMID 36518835WHAT IT FOUND
Baseball pitchers with unstable or hypermobile shoulders on manual exam reported significantly more arm pain and lower function than those with normal stability.
This cross-sectional study found an association, but it cannot prove that shoulder laxity causes the pain or that screening changes outcomes.
Key findings
01Pitchers classified with unstable shoulders had significantly lower total KJOC scores (45.0) and higher total FAST scores (32.1) indicating worse function compared to pitchers with normal shoulders (KJOC 66.1, FAST 19.9).
02Arm pain was significantly higher in pitchers with unstable or hypermobile shoulders compared to normal shoulders on both the FAST and KJOC pain questions.
0380% of participants had a previous arm injury, and those with a history of injury scored significantly lower on the total KJOC (59.6) than healthy pitchers (71.9).
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTs
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What it does not show
The study is cross-sectional, so it cannot determine if shoulder instability causes pain or if pain leads to altered movement patterns. The sample size was small (n=45) and consisted only of male pitchers aged 13-25, limiting generalizability to female athletes, other overhead sports, or older professional players. The study did not control for pitching volume, mechanics, or other concurrent treatments, so the specific contribution of shoulder laxity to pain cannot be isolated.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not assume that correcting shoulder laxity will resolve arm pain. This study found an association between instability and pain, but it did not test any intervention, so it provides no evidence that stabilization exercises or other treatments for laxity improve outcomes.