Shoulder pain and dysfunction in young surf lifesavers

• Young surf lifesavers report 2.1 SIP incidences per thousand hours of training.
• Young surf lifesavers report a SIP incidence proportion of 51.9%.
• Point prevalence of SIP in young surf lifesavers was 18.5%.
• SIP history correlates with swimming dosage but not the combined elevation score.
• Combined elevation test correlates negatively with board paddling dosage.

ObjectivesTo determine the incidence and prevalence of significantly interrupting shoulder pain (SIP) in young surf lifesavers and to determine association with training dosage and the ‘combined elevation test’.Participants54 surf lifesavers aged 10–18 from the Gold Coast, Australia.Methods and outcome measuresRetrospective survey of SIP and training dosage. Cross-sectional measures of the combined elevation test.DesignRetrospective.Results56.5% of female surf lifesavers reported a history of SIP compared to males with 48.5%. Females had a higher combined elevation score compared to males, 28.32 ± SD 8.52 cm and 26.09 ± SD 6.64 cm, respectively. Young surf lifesavers had an incidence rate of 2.1 SIP episodes per thousand hours of training, an incidence proportion of 51.9% and prevalence of 18.5%. Combined elevation had low level positive trends with training dosages and statistically significant negative correlation with board paddling sessions per week (r = −0.287, p ≤ 0.05). Those with a history of SIP had a statistically significant higher number of sessions (p = 0.008), duration (p = 0.015) and distance (p = 0.005) swimming per week.ConclusionYoung surf lifesavers with a history of SIP have greater swimming dosage not associated with a decreased combined elevation score. More board paddling sessions per week decreased the combined elevation score of young surf lifesavers.