Description

This study will be a cross-sectional observational study designed to investigate the prevalence of scapular dyskinesis (SD) among physical therapy practitioners and to explore associated epidemiological factors. The study will be conducted between October 2024 and January 2025. Ethical approval will be obtained from the Research Ethics Committee of the Faculty of Physical Therapy, Cairo University (P.T.REC/012/005755).

Participants

Sample Size: The sample size will be calculated using SPSS for Windows, version 25, with 80% power at α = 0.05 level using a one-sample t-test. The generated sample size will be 121 physical therapy practitioners.

Selection Criteria:

Inclusion Criteria:

Licensed physical therapy practitioners actively working in clinical settings (Soliño et al., 2024).

Age between 27 and 40 years (Jeong & Kim, 2023).

Minimum of one year of clinical experience or exposure to physical activity (Jeong & Kim, 2023).

No current shoulder pain or symptoms at the time of assessment (Soliño et al., 2024).

Willingness to participate and provide informed consent.

Exclusion Criteria:

Acute shoulder or neck injury within the last month (Jeong & Kim, 2023).

History of upper body orthopedic surgery (Jeong & Kim, 2023).

Known neurological or musculoskeletal disorders affecting shoulder mechanics (Burn et al., 2016).

Participation in overhead or collision sports with high scapular loading (Burn et al., 2016).

Inability to complete assessment procedures due to physical limitations (Soliño et al., 2024).

Subgroups: Participants will be divided into three age-based groups:

Group A: 27-31 years

Group B: Above 31-36 years

Group C: Above 36-40 years

Instrumentation

Body Mass Index (BMI): Weight and height will be measured using calibrated scales, and BMI will be calculated as body mass (kg) / height² (m²). A cutoff of ≥30 kg/m² will be considered obese (Romero et al., 2008).

Scapular Dyskinesis Test (SDT): Will be used to visually assess scapular movement patterns during repeated shoulder flexion and abduction with light weights (Plummer et al., 2017).

Lateral Scapular Slide Test (LSST): Will assess scapular position by measuring the distance from the scapula's inferior angle to the nearest spinous process in different arm positions. A side-to-side difference >1.5 cm will indicate asymmetry (Curtis et al., 2006).

Digital Goniometer: Will be used to assess shoulder range of motion (ROM) with alignment to anatomical landmarks (Correll et al., 2018; Norkin & White, 2016).

Visual Analog Scale (VAS): Will be used to measure pain intensity on a 10 cm line from 0 (no pain) to 10 (worst pain) (Begum et al., 2019).

Nordic Musculoskeletal Questionnaire (NMQ): An Arabic-adapted version will be used to assess musculoskeletal symptoms in specific body regions (Aldhabi et al., 2024).

Manual Muscle Testing (MMT): Strength testing of middle trapezius, lower trapezius, and serratus anterior will be conducted using the Oxford scale (Vijian et al., 2023).

Assessment Procedures

Personal Data: Name, age, sex, weight, and height will be recorded. Informed consent will be obtained from all participants.

BMI Calculation: Weight and height will be measured, and BMI will be computed using the standard formula (Abrantes et al., 2002).

Pain Assessment (VAS): Participants will mark their pain level on a 10 cm visual analog scale.

SDT: Participants will perform repeated shoulder flexion and abduction; abnormal scapular motion will be recorded as "yes" and normal as "no" (Jayasinghe, 2018).

LSST: Bilateral measurements will be taken in different arm positions; >1.5 cm difference will be considered abnormal (Jayasinghe, 2018).

Shoulder ROM Measurement: A digital goniometer will be used; the joint will be positioned and stabilized before measurement (Norkin & White, 2016).

NMQ Administration: A self-administered questionnaire will address demographic, biomechanical, psychological, and environmental factors (Smith et al., 2006).

MMT: Strength of scapular stabilizers will be graded on the Oxford scale; only grade 5 will be included in analysis to avoid confounding.

Glenohumeral Joint Assessment: Passive ROM will be evaluated for pain response and end-feel categorization (Norkin & White, 2016).

Statistical Analysis Data will be expressed as mean ± SD. The Shapiro-Wilk test will be used for normality testing. ANOVA will be applied to compare characteristics among the three subgroups, and the Chi-square test will be used to compare categorical variables. Statistical analysis will be performed using SPSS version 20 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA), with significance set at p ≤ 0.05.