Clinicians who think scapular dyskinesis is important are more likely to identify it in healthy individuals

Key Points

1. The visual scapular dyskinesis test demonstrated poor interrater reliability in a large international sample of physical therapists.

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BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE

Scapular dyskinesis refers to altered position or motion of the scapula during shoulder movements. It is frequently cited as a contributing factor in shoulder pain and is commonly assessed by clinicians through visual observation. However, previous research raises questions whether scapular dyskinesis is clinically relevant, and whether it can be assessed reliably.

This study evaluated the interrater reliability of the visual scapular dyskinesis test using a large international sample of physical therapists. It also examined whether clinician beliefs about the importance of scapular dyskinesis influenced their classification decisions.

Scapular dyskinesis is frequently cited as a contributing factor in shoulder pain and is commonly assessed by clinicians through visual observation.

Clinicians should be cautious about relying solely on the visual scapular dyskinesis test as clinicians who rated scapular dyskinesis as more important were significantly more likely to classify it as present.

METHODS

• 104 physical therapists from various countries (with at least three years of clinical experience and a minimum of five shoulder patients per week) participated in the study.

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