Shoulder Pain and Cycle to Cycle Kinematic Spatial Variability during Recovery Phase in Manual Wheelchair Users: A Pilot Investigation

This study looks at how the movement of manual wheelchair users (MWU) varies from one push to the next, specifically during the recovery phase (when the hand is not on the wheel). It compares people with shoulder pain to those without. The researchers used motion capture technology to track the wrist movements of participants as they propelled their wheelchairs at different speeds. The main finding was that people with shoulder pain had more variability in their wrist movements at the beginning of the recovery phase compared to those without pain. This suggests that analyzing movement variability could be a way to monitor and potentially rehabilitate shoulder pain in MWUs.

• 1
  Spatial variability was highest at the start and end of the recovery phase and lowest during the middle of the recovery path.
• 2
  Individuals with shoulder pain displayed significantly higher kinematic spatial variability than individuals without shoulder pain at the start (at 10% interval) of the recovery phase.
• 3
  There was a significant main effect of interval on kinematic variability.