Scapular dyskinesis, dynamic stability of upper extremity and grip strength evaluation in male basketball players according to age and dominant side

Abstract

Introduction. Basketball is an intermittent team sport with frequent transitions between activities performed at different intensities (1). Impaired functions of athlete’s kinematic chain lead to dysfunctions and increase the risk of injury (2). Scapula is important in shoulder complex while throwing a ball as it transfers the force from lower extremities to arms. It is difficult to objectively evaluate scapula due to the position of the shoulder, surrounding muscles and complexity of movements (3). There is a lack of researches analyzing scapular function according age and dominant arm of the throwing athlete. Research aim: to evaluate scapular dyskinesis, dynamic stability and grip strength in male basketball players according to age and dominant side. Research methods and organization: The study was approved by Lithuanian University of Health Sciences Bioethics Center (Nr BEC-SR(M)-146). All participants or their parents (for adolescent basketball players) signed the informed consent form before taking part in this study. Eleven athletes from national youth basketball team and twelve professional basketball players aged 15 to 30, without any upper extremity injuries in the past 1 year, which have not allowed them to train for 2 weeks, were enrolled to this study. The participants were divided into two groups: adolescent basketball players (n=11) aged 16.09 (±0.4) years and with 6.55 (±1.75) years of training period and adult basketball players (n=12) aged 22.17 (±4.11) and with 9.25 (±3.23) years of training period. In order to determine arm dominance, the basketball players were asked to specify the preferred hand to throw a ball. Scapular dyskinesis was evaluated by test described by McClure et al. (2009) (4). The Closed Kinetic Chain Upper Extremity Stability Test (CKCUES) measurements were taken while performing the CKCUES test in order to evaluate upper extremity dynamic stability and proprioception. The grip strength was measured by "Camry " dynamometer in order to confirm whether grip strength is increasing with age. Data was analyzed by using the program SPSS 27.0 and Microsoft Excel for Windows. Non-parametric two independent values were compared with non-parametric Mann-Whitney test, contingency was compared with Fisher’s exact test. The results are presented as median (xme), minimum (xmin), maximum (xmax) value and mean (x̄) – xme (xmin – xmax; x̄). The difference was considered statistically significant when p < 0.05. Results. Scapular dyskinesis. Scapular dyskinesis in the dominant arm was detected in 6 adolescent basketball players (54.5 %) and in 3 adult basketball players (25%). Scapular dyskinesis in the non-dominant arm was detected in 9 adolescent basketball players (81.8%) and in 6 adult basketball players (50%). No significant differences in scapular dyskinesis display were found in the dominant (p=0.214) and non-dominant (p=0.193) sides between the groups. CKCUES test. The final score of the CKCUES test in adolescent basketball players group was 0.16 (0.13-0.17; 0.15) points, in the group of adult players – 0.18 (0.16-0.21; 0.18) points. Adult basketball players had better upper extremity dynamic stability and proprioception compared to adolescent basketball players (U=115.5, p=0.001). […].