Angle-specific isokinetic shoulder rotational strength can be reliably assessed in collision and contact athletes

Fanning, Edel, Falvey, Eanna, Daniels, Katherine AJ and Cools, Ann (2022) Angle-specific isokinetic shoulder rotational strength can be reliably assessed in collision and contact athletes. Journal of Sport Rehabilitation, 31 (8). pp. 1076-1082. ISSN 1056-6716

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Abstract

An increased understanding of rotational strength as a potential prognostic factor for injury in contact and collision athletes may be important in planning return to sport. The aim of this study was to (1) determine the test–retest reliability of clinically relevant, angle-specific rotational and peak torque measurements in a cohort of uninjured collision and contact athletes; (2) develop a normal descriptive profile of angle-specific rotational torque measurements in the same cohort; and (3) examine the effects of direction and joint angle on shoulder rotational strength interlimb asymmetries. Twenty-three collision and contact athletes were recruited for the interday reliability substudy and 47 athletes were recruited for the remaining substudies. We used intraclass correlation coefficients with 95% confidence intervals to quantify interday reliability of all variables. We used a 2-way repeated-measures analysis of variance to analyze differences in absolute interlimb asymmetries. Interday reliability for the isokinetic strength variables was good to excellent (0.78–0.90) on the dominant side and moderate to good (0.63–0.86) on the nondominant side. Maximum angle-specific torque (as well as peak torque) can be measured reliably in internally and externally rotated positions. A normal profile of clinically relevant, angle-specific shoulder rotational torque measurements for collision and contact athletes has been established which provides a reference when assessing shoulder strength in this population.