Lang Angelica E, Friesen Kenzie B, Lawson Josh, Mondal Prosanta, Koehncke Niels, Kim Soo Y, Chilibeck Philip
Canadian Centre for Rural and Agricultural Health, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
Department of Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Canada.
PLoS One. 2025 Jun 20;20(6):e0326229. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0326229. eCollection 2025.
Rotator cuff syndrome (RCS) is the most common upper limb musculoskeletal disorder worldwide. RCS negatively impacts quality of life and comes with high costs to the individual and society through time loss of work or healthcare usage. Identifying modifiable risk factors for RCS is a critical avenue for exploration to improve prevention and treatment of RCS.
The overarching goal of this research is to explore the connection between shoulder kinematics and RCS in high-risk occupations and determine if pre-injury shoulder kinematics during a standardized overhead reaching motion are a risk factor for symptomatic RCS.
A prospective cohort design will be used to assess 292 individuals who work in high-risk occupations, such as construction, farming, and healthcare. Workers without any shoulder pain or disorders will be asked to attend an in-laboratory baseline testing session. First participants will complete questionnaires about their baseline symptoms, personal characteristics, and work exposures. They will then perform a standardized functional reaching task while their shoulder movement is tracked with optical motion capture. Participants will be surveyed every 3 months for two years; individuals with any indications of shoulder symptoms that develop during the study period will be further assessed with clinical impingement tests. Logistic regression and survival analyses will be performed to determine if scapular kinematics pre-injury, combined with several individual and work-related factors, are a risk factor for development of RCS.
These findings will provide empirical evidence to clarify the contribution of biomechanics to injury development. Specifically, it is expected that scapular kinematics at the baseline assessment will be a risk factor for the development of RCS.
This research represents a crucial step for understanding shoulder musculoskeletal health. This information is foundational for development of innovative, evidence-based treatment and prevention strategies.
肩袖综合征（RCS）是全球最常见的上肢肌肉骨骼疾病。RCS对生活质量有负面影响，并且由于工作时间损失或医疗保健使用，给个人和社会带来高昂成本。识别RCS的可改变风险因素是改善RCS预防和治疗的关键探索途径。
本研究的总体目标是探索高风险职业中肩部运动学与RCS之间的联系，并确定在标准化过头伸展动作期间损伤前的肩部运动学是否是有症状RCS的风险因素。
将采用前瞻性队列设计来评估292名从事高风险职业的个体，如建筑、农业和医疗保健行业。没有任何肩部疼痛或疾病的工人将被要求参加实验室基线测试环节。首先，参与者将完成关于他们的基线症状、个人特征和工作暴露的问卷。然后，他们将执行标准化的功能性伸展任务，同时用光学运动捕捉技术跟踪他们的肩部运动。参与者将在两年内每3个月接受一次调查；在研究期间出现任何肩部症状迹象的个体将通过临床撞击试验进行进一步评估。将进行逻辑回归和生存分析，以确定损伤前的肩胛运动学，结合几个个体和工作相关因素，是否是RCS发生的风险因素。
这些发现将提供实证证据，以阐明生物力学对损伤发展的作用。具体而言，预计基线评估时的肩胛运动学将是RCS发生的风险因素。
本研究是理解肩部肌肉骨骼健康的关键一步。这些信息是制定创新型、循证治疗和预防策略的基础。
