Upper extremities functional disability and pain intensity in female volleyball athletes: cross-sectional study

ABSTRACT BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: In volleyball, the high demand for shoulder sports makes it susceptible to injuries due to the repetition of sporting gestures. The presence of pain in the shoulder can lead to the disability to perform movements correctly, resulting in reduced sports performance. The study aimed to evaluate and correlate the presence of pain and functional disability of the upper extremity in volleyball athletes. METHODS: Cross-sectional descriptive study, developed with 30 female volleyball athletes. Functional disability was assessed using the Disabilities of the Arm, Shoulder, and Hand Questionnaire (DASH) and pain intensity using the Visual Numeric Scale (VNS). The study was conducted in an online format. The IBM SPSS 21.0 statistical package for Windows was used, where descriptive measures, Wilcoxon, and Spearman correlation tests were performed, adopting p≤0.05. RESULTS: Nineteen athletes reported mild to moderate pain to perform daily activities, and 21 athletes reported pain to perform sporting gestures, with pain being significantly more intense in the dominant shoulder in the spike movement (p