Development of a rugby shoulder function (RSF) questionnaire: An online Delphi study.

OBJECTIVE: Develop a questionnaire to monitor symptoms of player perceived shoulder function/dysfunction. DESIGN: 3-Stage Online Delphi Study. METHODS: Participants: surgeons, sports and exercise medics, academic researchers, strength and conditioning coaches, therapists and athletes split by level of expertise/experience. Stage-1: experts (n = 12) rated constructs/items from the steering group and made changes/proposed additional constructs/items. Stage-2: experts rated/amended new constructs/items from stage-1. Stage-3: experienced professionals (n = 25) rated/ranked constructs/items from stage 2. Consensus thresholds were defined per stage (≥50% agreement/4-5 rating on 1-5 Likert scale (stages 1-2), ≥68% agreement, and items ranked for perceived importance (stage-3)). RESULTS: Stage-1, all four constructs (a. Activities of daily living, b. Range of motion, c. Strength and conditioning, d. Sports specific training and competition) and 26/42 original items achieved consensus. Twelve items were combined into five items. Four new items were also proposed. Stage-2, the combined items and three of the four new items achieved consensus. Stage-3 the four constructs and 22 items all achieved consensus. CONCLUSIONS: Following a 3-stage online Delphi process, involving expert and experienced clinicians, practitioners and athletes, a new four construct, 22 item RSF questionnaire has been developed which can be used with rugby players, to monitor perceived shoulder performance and symptoms.

Playing through the pain: The prevalence of perceived shoulder dysfunction in uninjured rugby players using the Rugby Shoulder Score.

OBJECTIVE: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of self-reported shoulder dysfunction using the Rugby Shoulder Score (RSS) reported in arbitrary units (AU) of rugby players available for match selection (uninjured). DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey. METHODS: Paper survey at the mid-point of the season of uninjured players (n = 86 males (mean age (±SD): 26 ± 6.9y) from 8 squads (professional n = 34; amateur; n = 52)), using the RSS, subjective impact on rugby performance and previous shoulder injury, analysed using a Mann-Whitney U test. RESULTS: 55% of players reported a level of RSS dysfunction despite being uninjured. Players who also reported their shoulder was impacting on performance had significantly higher median RSS (61, IQR 28AU, p = 0.02) than those who reported no impact on performance (40, IQR 22AU). CONCLUSIONS: Findings from this study show that over half of players were playing with a level of self-reported shoulder dysfunction. This figure is higher in the professional game, for those with a history of previous injury and for forwards.