title: Shoulder pain: a comparison of wheelchair athletes and nonathletic wheelchair users.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to directly compare the onset and prevalence of shoulder pain in athletic and nonathletic wheelchair users.
  
  
  METHODS
  A questionnaire was distributed to athletic and nonathletic wheelchair-dependent populations. This inquired about presence and duration of shoulder pain, age of subject, level of injury, duration of time since injury, wheelchair use, involvement in sports, and training habits. A total of 257 subjects were involved in the study.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The odds of having shoulder pain were twice as high among nonathletes as they were among athletes. This finding represents a significant difference over and above age differences, differences in years spent in a wheelchair, and differences in level of spinal cord injury. Athletes also have an average of 12 yr free of shoulder pain after becoming wheelchair bound, whereas nonathletes have only 8 yr.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Promotion of active exercise for wheelchair users is encouraged to decrease shoulder pain, resulting in more functional, pain-free years.
authors.affiliation: Division of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston 29425, USA. fullerth@musc.edu
authors.forename: Heather D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Fullerton
authors.forename: Jeffrey J
authors.initials: JJ
authors.lastname: Borckardt
authors.forename: Alan P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Alfano
mesh_terms: D015444:Exercise / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D016017:Odds Ratio; D010147:Pain Measurement; D015995:Prevalence; D011897:Random Allocation; D020069:Shoulder Pain / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013119:Spinal Cord Injuries / Q000150:complications; D013177:Sports / Q000502:physiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014910:Wheelchairs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*