Disability Associated with Shoulder Pain during Life Span of Competitive Swimmers; A Cross-sectional study

Abstract

Background: The occurrence of shoulder pain among competitive swimmers is bizarre, but no strategy exists to diminish shoulder injuries in swimmers. Objective: To assess the disability associated with shoulder pain across the lifespan of competitive swimmers. Methods: A cross-sectional study including 58 swimmers who were selected based on inclusion criteria for this study from different swimming centers in Lahore, Pakistan. The questionnaire consisted of a total of 28 questions, 24 questions on Penn shoulder score and 4 questions on disability of arm, shoulder and hand questionnaire score and a diagnostic side bridge test was assessed 2 times by each participant to check endurance. Manual muscle testing was performed bilaterally on the serratus anterior, middle trapezius and lower trapezius muscles. Means and standard deviations were calculated for quantitative variables while frequency and percentages were used for qualitative variables. Chi-square was estimated to find the association between disability and shoulder pain. Results: There were 21 (36.2%) males and 37 (63.2%) females participated in the study. This showed that hand dominance affects the ability of competitive swimmers. For the side bridge average time, left and right hand, the p-value was <0.001 which was statistically significant. Conclusion: This study concludes that disabilities are associated with shoulder pain across the lifespan of competitive swimmers. Pain and discomfort in the shoulder is the main risk factor among competitive swimmers that can ultimately lead to the disability of the extremity.  As only a few participants were fully satisfied with the current level of their shoulder functioning.