2026/05/27 by Flávia Albuquerque, Arthur S. Ferreira, Thiago Lemos · 1 voice
Medicine · #Shoulder Injury and Treatment #Knee injuries and reconstruction techniques #Sports injuries and prevention
paper · doi:10.32098/mltj_2026_7106
openalex publication_date 2026/05/27 · openalex created_date 2026/05/30 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/01
Background: The repetitive, high-demand nature of competitive swimming places significant stress on the shoulder joint, frequently leading to pain and instability. These issues-associated with neuromuscular control deficits-underscore the importance of thorough shoulder function assessment to guide rehabilitation interventions. Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the shoulder functional stability during the Upper Quarter Y Balance Test (UQ-YBT), considering handedness as a factor. Design: Cross-sectional study. Settings: Rehabilitation department of a sports club. Participants: Thirty-two (20 female) right-handed young swimming athletes aged 13-16 years old (min-max) participate in the study. Main Outcome Measure(s): The UQ-YBT was performed over a force platform and was expressed in terms of reaching distances normalized by upper limbs’ length, while the postural sway data acquired was expressed in resultant distance path length. A two-way ANOVA was applied to check for main effect and interaction between handedness and UQ-YBT direction. The association between UQ-YBT and path length was assessed through Pearson correlation analysis. Results: The UQ-YBT performance was progressively lower from medial to inferolateral and superolateral directions (p <0.006), with differences between hands for inferolateral (right > left hand, p = 0.003) and medial (left > right hand, p = 0.005) directions. Postural sway for the superolateral direction was significantly higher than that observed during the inferolateral and medial directions (p <0.001), and no handedness effect was found (p >0.078). A significant correlation was found for UQ-YBT medial direction distances and the medial path length, for both hands (r ranged 0.449-0.576, p <0.013). Conclusions: The level of challenge presented by the functional test, rather than upper limb lateral specialization, had the greatest influence on shoulder complex stability control.