Sports Medicine and Fitness

Biography

Biography: Jay Patel

Abstract

Overuse injuries are common in the shoulder joint among volleyball players. The current study had 2 aims. The first was to correlate external-internal rotator strength ratio (E/I SR) and passive range of motion (PROM) of the shoulder with the duration of play in volleyball players. The second was to determine whether differences exist between dominant and non-dominant shoulders E/I SR or E/I PROM in volleyball players with and without unilateral shoulder pain. In this cross-sectional study, a convenience sample of 65 male volleyball players, aged 18-40 years, with (n=41) or without unilateral shoulder pain (n=24) was included. Shoulder external and internal rotator isometric strength and PROM were measured with a universal goniometer and a hand held dynamometer, respectively. Pearson correlation coefficient was used to find the association between shoulder E/I SR or E/I PROM and the duration of play in all players. A comparison of dominant and non-dominant E/I SR or E/I PROM among players with and without shoulder pain was done using paired t-test. No significant correlation was found between E/I SR or E/I PROM and the duration of play in players with and without pain. A statistically significant difference between the dominant and non-dominant E/I SR was noted in players with shoulder pain (p=0.018). Further, internal rotator strength (11.59±2.82 kg) was found to be more than external rotator strength (10.76±2.43 kg) in this group (p<0.010). No such difference was found in players without shoulder pain. No differences in E/I PROM between dominant and non-dominant shoulders were noted in either group. In summary, there was an imbalance in E/I SR with internal rotators being stronger than external rotators on the dominant (painful) side among volleyball players.