Shoulder Kinematics and Muscle Activation in Sport Climbers With Shoulder Pain
Condition: Shoulder Pain; Shoulder Impingement Syndrome
MeSH terms: Shoulder Pain; Shoulder Impingement Syndrome
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Sport climbing has recently become a highly popular sport and was included in the Summer
      Olympic Games 2021. Shoulder injury accounts for 15 to 20 percent of all sport climbing
      injuries, and it is the third most common problems, only surpassed by wrist and hand
      injuries. Sport climbing involves both open and closed chain movements of upper limbs. These
      prolonged and repetitive movements on vertical or overhanging terrain may lead to overuse and
      fatigue, which result in injuries. Sport climbing consists of multiple movement elements.
      Pull up with small holds is a basic movement in sport climbing, and activates many shoulder
      muscles, including trapezius, serratus anterior, latissimus dorsi. Studies related to sport
      climbing have focused on observing difference between sport climbers and non-sport climbers.
      Altered posture, increased scapulohumeral rhythm during arm elevation, and decreased shoulder
      angle during one-arm hanging have been observed in sport climbers. However, little studies
      have investigated whether climbers with shoulder injuries demonstrate different shoulder
      kinematics and muscle activation during tasks related to sport climbing. Therefore, the
      purpose of this study is to investigate the shoulder kinematics and muscle activation during
      pull-up with small holds in sport climbers with and without shoulder pain. Methods. Thirty
      sport climbers with shoulder pain and 30 healthy control subjects matched with gender, age,
      dominant hand and experience will be recruited in this study. All subjects will undertake
      physical examinations such as shoulder range of motion (ROM). Shoulder kinematics and muscle
      activation will be collected during arm elevation in the scapular plane and pull-up with
      gym-bar and 20mm depth small climbing holds. An electromagnetic tracking system will be used
      to measure bilateral scapular and humerothoracic kinematics. Surface electromyography (EMG)
      will be used to record muscle activation of bilateral upper trapezius, lower trapezius,
      serratus anterior and latissimus dorsi. Demographic data and physical examination will be
      analyzed by independent t test or Chi-square test. Two-way ANOVA will be used to test
      differences between groups in kinematics and EMG data at different phases of tasks. If
      significant interaction effect is found, Post-hoc pairwise comparison with Bonferroni
      correction will be used. The significant level is set at 0.05.
    


Intervention name(s): Arm elevation in the scapular plane; Pull up with gymbar; Pull up with fingerboard
Intervention type(s): Other; Other; Other
Intervention description(s): Lift the arm up in the scapular plane; Grasp the gymbar with both hands and pull up as high as the subject can; The width of the fingerboar is 20 mm. Pull up with fingers on the fingerboard.
Observational model: Case-Control
Time perspective: Cross-Sectional
Sampling method: Non-Probability Sample
Study population: 
        1. Ages ranges from 20-40 years old

          2. At least one year of experience of sport climbing

          3. Sport Climbing frequency ≥ 6 hours per week in the last one month
      
Keywords: Sport climbing; Shoulder kinematics; Electromyography; Shoulder pain