Measuring shoulder range of motion to diagnose shoulder injury among weightlifters: a study in athletes with and without shoulder injury

Abstract

Background: Weightlifting is one of the sports that contribute to Olympic medals for Indonesia. With the demand to contribute medals at the Olympics, a thorough screening is needed to evaluate athletes for possible risks of injury. Moreover, the lifting movements involve the joints, muscles, and skeleton. Therefore, the sport poses a very high risk of injury, especially to the shoulders. Knowing the athlete's Range of Motion (ROM) is important to see a good range of motion. This study aimed to observe ROM differences between injured and non-injured weightlifters. Method: An observational study was conducted on 16 athletes (10 male and 6 female) with the following characteristics for male (24.1 ± 6.7 years, 168.2 ± 2.5 cm, 83.0 ± 11.9 kg, 29.2 ± 4.0 kg/m2) and female (18.8 ± 1.6 years, 158.6 ± 3.8 cm, 65.2 ± 7.9 kg, 27.2 ± 4.5 kg/m2) participants. In data analysis, all athletes went through the screening stage. After that, the body composition and ROM of both arms were measured using InBody 270 and Humantrak 3D Human Movement Analysis, with statistical significance determined at a value <0.05 using the Mann-Whitney test in Minitab. Result: The study found a significant difference in the range of motion of the shoulder between athletes who had injuries and those who did not have injuries. Conclusion: This research revealed a decreased range of motion in weightlifting athletes with injuries. Keywords: Weightlifter, Injury, Range of Motion, Shoulder