Shoulder pain and dysfunction in young surf lifesavers

Objectives: To determine the incidence and prevalence of significantly interrupting shoulder pain (SIP) in young surf lifesavers and to determine association with training dosage and the 'combined elevation test'. Participants: 54 surf lifesavers aged 10-18 from the Gold Coast, Australia. Methods and outcome measures: Retrospective survey of SIP and training dosage. Cross-sectional measures of the combined elevation test. Design: Retrospective. Results: 56.5% of female surf lifesavers reported a history of SIP compared to males with 48.5%. Females had a higher combined elevation score compared to males, 28.32±SD 8.52cm and 26.09±SD 6.64cm, respectively. Young surf lifesavers had an incidence rate of 2.1 SIP episodes per thousand hours of training, an incidence proportion of 51.9% and prevalence of 18.5%. Combined elevation had low level positive trends with training dosages and statistically significant negative correlation with board paddling sessions per week (r=-0.287, p≤0.05). Those with a history of SIP had a statistically significant higher number of sessions (p=0.008), duration (p=0.015) and distance (p=0.005) swimming per week. Conclusion: Young surf lifesavers with a history of SIP have greater swimming dosage not associated with a decreased combined elevation score. More board paddling sessions per week decreased the combined elevation score of young surf lifesavers.