Risk Factors for the Development of Shoulder Pain in Elite Sled Hockey Players.
Jacqueline Spangenberg, Ryan Nussbaum, Liqi Chen and 1 others
PMID 33476094WHAT IT FOUND
70.5% of elite sled hockey players reported shoulder pain in the past month.
Heavier weight and more years of manual wheelchair use were linked to pain. The study cannot show cause.
Key findings
0170.5% of participants reported shoulder pain in the past month.
02Heavier weight and more years of manual wheelchair use were associated with shoulder pain in the past month in the multivariable model.
03Weight was associated with moderate PC-WUSPI pain, while age was not statistically significant.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for PTsWhat it means for OTs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
This was a cross-sectional survey, so it can show associations but cannot prove that weight, wheelchair use, or sled hockey caused shoulder pain. Pain was self-reported, with no physical examination or imaging to confirm shoulder pathology. Four participants did not complete the past-month pain question, leaving 78 for that outcome. Many analyses were underpowered, and subgroup findings such as lumbar SCI should be read cautiously. Most participants were male, so sex differences could not be examined well. Height, weight, and BMI were self-reported, and the paper notes that a standard BMI method may not be valid for athletes with double amputations. The study did not assess trunk control, and it could not separate pain from sport-specific activity versus daily wheelchair use.
Declared interests
No funding or conflict-of-interest declaration appears in the supplied text.