Transfer Technique Is Associated With Shoulder Pain and Pathology in People With Spinal Cord Injury: A Cross-Sectional Investigation.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate how transfer technique and subject characteristics relate to ultrasound measures of shoulder soft tissue pathology and self-reported shoulder pain during transfers in a sample of wheelchair users with spinal cord injury (SCI).

DESIGN: Cross-sectional observational study.

SETTING: Research laboratory, national and local veterans' wheelchair sporting events.

PARTICIPANTS: A convenience sample of wheelchair users (N=76) with nonprogressive SCI. Participants were aged >18 years, >1 year postinjury, and could complete repeated independent wheelchair transfers without the use of their leg muscles.

INTERVENTIONS: Not applicable.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Transfer pain items from the Wheelchair User's Shoulder Pain Index; transfer technique assessed using the Transfer Assessment Instrument (TAI); and shoulder pathology markers examined using the Ultrasound Shoulder Pathology Rating Scale (USPRS).

RESULTS: Better transfer technique (higher TAI) correlated with less injury (lower USPRS) (partial η(2)=.062, P<.05) and less pain during transfers (partial η(2)=.049, P<.10). Greater age was the strongest predictor of greater pathology (USPRS total: partial η(2)=.225, supraspinatus grade: partial η(2)=.174, P<.01). An interaction between technique and weight was found (P<.10): participants with lower body weights showed a decrease in pathology markers with better transfer technique (low weight: R(2)=.422, P<.05; middle weight: R(2)=.200, P<.01), while those with higher weight showed little change with technique (R(2)=.018, P>.05).

CONCLUSIONS: Participants with better transfer technique exhibited less shoulder pathology and reported less pain during transfers. The relationship between technique and pathology was strongest in lower-weight participants. While causation cannot be proven because of study design, it is possible that using a better transfer technique and optimizing body weight could reduce the incidence of shoulder pathology and pain.