Publications on risk factors
| Reference | Participants | Design | Outcome | Key findings |
| Galluccio et al48 | 42 males from professional league | Cross-sectional | Pain questionnaire as part of cross-sectional study | Shoulder pain prevalence 31.0%; dominant shoulder SST tear 21.4%; SSC tear 7.1%; LHB tear 0%; SST tendinopathy 19.1%; SSC tendinopathy 2.4%; LHB tendinopathy 16.7%; impingement 21.4%; subacromial bursitis 16.7%; SLAP tear 4.8% |
| Giombini et al49 | 7 males and 4 females from national team, mean 24 years old | Case series | MRI investigation of shoulder area | Postero-superior labral damage 11/11; increased signal intensity on the undersurface of the RC 11/11; postero-superior glenoid impingement of SST 11/11 |
| Hams et al47 | 28 males and 48 females from national team, mean 20±3 years old | Cohort | Shoulder range of motion measured with goniometry and shoulder rotation strength measured with hand-held dynamometer | Prospectively injured athletes showed significantly lower total ROM (p=0.05), lower strength of ER (p=0.03) and IR (p<0.03) |
| Hams et al46 | 9 males and 6 females from national team, mean 18±1 years old | Cohort | Shoulder internal (IR) and external rotation (ER) strength measured with hand-held dynamometer | Prospectively injured athletes showed significantly lower ER and IR strength (p≤0.01) but no differences in ER/IR ratios; healthy IR 14.57 kgF versus 9.26 kgF, healthy ER 10.97 kgF versus 7.35 kgF, healthy ratios ER/IR 0.77 versus 0.81 (at 90–90 position); healthy IR 19.62 versus 14.56 kgF, healthy ER 14.50 versus 10.29 kgF, ER/IR ratio 0.75 versus 0.72 (in neutral) |
| Klein et al2 | 28 males from national league, mean 24 years old | Cross-sectional | MRI investigation of shoulder area | Dominant strength SSP 12.2±2.9 kgF, ISP 9.9±2.5 kgF, SSC 11.6±2.3 kgF; MRI positive findings: SSP 15/28 shoulders, SSC 15/28, ISP 12/28, labrum cranial 10/28 versus posterior 15/28 versus anterior 6/28, cysts 6/28, LHB 17/28, cartilage 9/28, AC changes 7/28, bursitis 25/28 |
| Langner et al50 | 5 male and 8 female college level, age 18–23 | Cross-sectional | MRI investigation of the hips | Abnormal alpha 9/16 female versus 9/10 male; abnormal lateral edge-centre angle 5/16 female versus 3/10 female; labral tears 8/16 female versus 8/10 male |
| Melchiorri et al51 | 53 males from national team, mean 24±3 years old, 17 injured | Cross-sectional | Video analysis to estimate joint angles and ball throwing speed | Ball speed injured 23.9±1.7 m/s versus 24.6±2.2 m/s; elbow angle release injured 147±8° versus 148±6°; throw time injured 150.6±28.2 ms versus 149.4±29.6 ms; shoulder angle injured 144±6° versus 138±5°; head height injured 55.1±8.7 cm versus 37.4±13.1 cm; trunk rotation time injured 140±18 ms versus 110±17 ms |
| Mukhtyar et al52 | 30 participants from national league, 17–35 years old, 14 injured | Cross-sectional | Static scapular alignment measured in neural and end range shoulder elevation | Rotary index healthy at 0° position 0.3975 versus 0.1379 (p<0.01); healthy at 45° position 0.2781 versus 0.2064 (p=0.04); healthy at 90° position 0.3144 versus 0.2743 (p=0.13) |
| Wheeler et al53 | 7 females from national team, mean 23 years old | Cross-sectional | Video analysis of practices and daily questionnaire of shoulder soreness | 74% of shoulder soreness was explained by shooting volume and significant association also with decreased rest between reps; volume of shots per day 29±5 for squad selection versus 55±21 for team practices; more soreness in squad selection VAS (3.8±1) versus team practices VAS 2.9±0.4, p<0.05); rest between shots in squad selection 274±183 s versus team practice 148±50 s |
| Whiting et al54 | 13 males from national team, mean 27±3 years old, 7 injured | Cross-sectional | Three-dimensional video analysis with orthogonal views to estimate joint angles and ball release speed | Throw duration healthy 227±9 ms versus 241±11 ms; peak angular velocity healthy 1182±45°/s versus 1104±72°/s; elbow angle at release healthy 155±2° versus 155±3°; ball velocity healthy 19.3±0.5 m/s versus 19.9±0.7 m/s |
AC, acromioclavicular; ER, external rotation; IR, internal rotation; ISP, infraspinatus; LHB, long head of biceps; RC, rotator cuff; ROM, range of motion; SSC, subscapularis; SST, supraspinatus; SLAP tear, superior longitudinal anteroposterior tear; VAS, Visual Analogue Scale .