Table 1. Characteristics for each of the retained studies.
| Authors | Setting Type | Population Type | Total Population/Shoulders (n/n) | With Scapular Dyskinesis (n) | Symptomatic (Y or N) | Methods |
| Akodu et al 2018 | General population (from Department of Physiotherapy, U of Lagos) | 77 undergraduates without history of shoulder or neck pathology | 77/77 (reported as individuals with SD) | 54 (a 1.5 cm asymmetry between R/L scapulae was considered the threshold for SD) | No | SICK scapula, Static Measurements 0 to 20 Point Rating Scale |
| Alves de Oliveira et al 2013 | Amateur Athletes | 30M amateur athletes (15 with SIS and 15 without); SIS mean age 22; control mean age 20.27 | 30/30 (dominant shoulders only) | SIS (14 (93.3%) present, 1 (6.7%) absent) Control (6 (40%) present, 9 (60%) absent) |
15 symptomatic 15 asymptomatic |
LSST |
| Balci et al 2016 | Outpatient clinic at a university | 53 subjects (40F/13M); diagnosed as unilateral AC (stage II) and SPN for at least 3 months | 53/53 (shoulder in pain) | 22 | Yes | LSST |
| Bullock et al 2021 | Wake Forest pitching lab | 33 asymptomatic M high school baseball pitchers; mean age 16.3 | 33/33 | 15 | No | McClure method (5 reps, etc.) |
| Camci et al 2013 | General population | 64 asymptomatic individuals | 64/64 (reported as individuals with SD) | 40 yes (24 no) | No | Yes/no method |
| Castelein et al 2016 | General F population | 19F with idiopathic neck pain; mean age 28.3 19F without (serving as control); mean age 29.3 |
38/38 (dominant shoulders only) | Neck pain group (9 yes, 10 no) Control group (8 yes, 11 no) |
19 symptomatic 19 asymptomatic |
Yes/no method described by Uhl et al. (visual observation) |
| Chen et al 2018 | General orthopedic with SPN | 186 (115F and 71M) individuals with shoulder conditions; mean age 45.74 SIS: 59, partial cuff tear: 6, FS: 23, bicep tendonitis: 15, GH OA: 13, cuff tendonitis: 10, SLAP tear: 10 |
186/186 (reported as individual, not shoulder) | Yes: 140 (type I, II, III) No: 46 (type IV) |
Yes (all) | Kibler method |
| Christiansen et al 2017 | Rehabilitation units, physical therapy clinics, and hospital setting | 40 patients (27M and 13F) with SIS | 40/40 (reported as individual with SD) | 18 | Yes (SIS) | McClure method (5 reps, etc.) |
| Da Silva et al 2008 | Elite tennis players and controls (compare SD and subacromial space in tennis players) | 73 individuals (53 elite tennis players (31M and 22F) and 20 controls (9M and 11F)); tennis players mean age 14.8; control mean age 14.6 | 73/73 (reported individuals but then also broke it down into bilateral and dominant %) | Tennis: 23/53 had SD (19 bilateral, 3 dominant, and 1 non dominant) Control: 4/20 had SD (2 dominant and 2 non dominant) |
No | Kibler method (static, dynamic and ascending, descending) |
| Deng et al, 2017 | Rehabilitation outpatient departments | 102 patients (49M and 53F) with shoulder conditions (SIS: 28, cuff tear: 27, SLAP: 16, OA:15, FS: 8, bicipital tendonitis: 8) | 102/102 (reported as individuals with SD) | Rest (type I-III): 83 Anterflexion (type I-III): 37 Scaption (type I-III): 39 Abduction (type I-III): 36 |
Yes | Kibler method |
| Frizziero et al 2018 | Bowed string instrument students at conservatory | 32 individuals (27F and 5M) | 32/32 (reported as individuals with SD) | 15 | No | Flexion and abduction with 1 or 2 kg weight and videotaped. Scapular movement was classified as: normal (both tests were evaluated as normal, or one movement is evaluated as normal and the other as slightly abnormal); slightly abnormal (both movements are evaluated as slight or uncertain abnormality); abnormal (one of the two movements is evaluated as severe abnormality) |
| Hannah et al 2017 | Strength profiles in healthy individuals with and without SD | 40 healthy college aged participants (12M and 28F) *initial before age matched brought in to even SD numbers; mean age 22.2 | 40/40 (individuals with SD) | 27 of 40 | No | Yes/no method |
| Huang et al 2015 | Outpatient clinic at a university hospital | 60 patients (4 M and 15F) with unilateral shoulder condition | 50/60 for raising phase 41/60 for lower phase (reported as individuals with SD and agreement levels) |
Raising phase 6 of 50 had SD Lowering phase 29 of 41 had SD |
Yes | Kibler and McClure combined method |
| Johansson et al 2016 | Pain in flatwater kayakers and relationship to ROM and SD | 31 kayakers (20M and 11F) (17 with SPN and 14 without SPN); F mean age 16.6; M mean age 18.2 | 31/31 (reported as individuals with SD) | Pain: 15/17 had SD No Pain: 4/14 had SD Total: 19/31 had SD |
Yes and No | Kibler and Sciasca method |
| Kawasaki et al 2012 | Does SD effect Rugby players during a season | 103M rugby players; mean age 24.6 | 103/103 used for primary analysis | Type I: 6 Type II: 4 Type III: 23 Total Yes: 33 Type IV (No): 70 |
No | Kibler method Type I-IV |
| Lee et al 2017 | Findings in asymptomatic elite volleyball players | 26 elite indoor volleyball players | 26/26 (dominant asymptomatic shoulders utilized) | 7 | No | Visual examination |
| Madsen et al 2011 | Training and SD in competitive swimmers | 78 competitive swimmers (44F and 34M); mean age 17 | 78/78 (athletes with SD) | After first time trial: 29 After half of training session: 53 Last three quarters of the training session: 57 Last quarter of the training session: 64 |
No | Yes/No system by McClure |
| Maor et al 2017 | SD among competitive swimmers | 20 competitive swimmers (6F and 14M); mean age 15.35 | 20/20 (athletes with SD) | Baseline: 6 1 hour of practice: 14 1.5 hours of practice: 17 |
No | Yes/No system by McClure |
| Moghadam et al 2018 | General orthopedic | 100F (47 hypermobile and 53 non-hypermobile) | 100/200 | Total (shoulders) Dominant Flexion: 60 Scaption: 62 Abduction: 61 Nondominant Flexion: 68 Scaption: 71 Abduction: 65 |
No (47 with GHJ generalized joint hypermobility but no symptoms) | Visual SD test |
| Nodehi et al 2020 | Acromiohumeral distance and SD comparison | 44F (21 with RSP and 23 controls); mean age of control 22.43; mean age of RSP 22.95 | 44/88 (looked at dominant vs non-dominant) | Total (shoulders) Flexion: 17 Abduction: 29 RSP: (flexion dominant: 4, non-dominant: 5; abduction dominant: 22, non-dominant: 4) Control: (flexion dominant: 3, non-dominant: 5; abduction dominant: 1, non-dominant: 2) |
No | Uhl yes/no method |
| Park et al, 2013 | Athletic population assessment of SD | 89 athletes (178 shoulders) (75 baseball players, 7 other overhead sports, 2 golf, and 5 occasional sport) SLAP: 15, SIS:12, SLAP + SIS: 6, MCL: 22, SLAP + MCL: 2, VEO: 9, cuff tear: 5, glenoid OCD: 4, capitellum OCD: 4, multidirectional instability: 5, posterior labral tear: 5 |
89/178 | Type I: 73 Type II: 39 Type III: 10 122: Total shoulders with SD out of 178 shoulders |
Yes | Type I-IV via visual observation |
| Park et al, 2014 | Athletic population evaluation of SD | 165 patients, 127 were baseball players, 5 were athletes of other over- head sports, 5 played golf, 2 played table tennis, 1 was a diver, 1 participated in bowling, 1 was an archer, and 26 enjoyed occasional sports activities. Elbow: MCL tear: 54, VEO: 40, OCD: 3, medial epicondylitis: 2, common flexor muscle strain: 3 Shoulder: SLAP: 49, multidirectional instability: 6, SLAP: 31, Bennett lesion: 3, internal impingement: 8, long head of biceps tendon tendonitis: 20, cuff tear: 3, impingement: 44, functional impingement: 8, sub coracoid impingement: 8, GIRD: 53, subscapularis tear: 1 |
165/330 | Type I: 130 Type II: 98 Type III: 52 280: Total shoulders with SD out of 330 |
Yes | Kibler’s 4 type method |
| Plummer et al 2017 | Observational SD | 135 individuals (67 with shoulder pain (33 F and 34 M) and 68 healthy controls (41 F and 27 M); pain mean age 32.5; control mean age 27.4 | 135/135 (individuals with SD) | Flexion (87/135) Symptomatic:45 Asymptomatic:42 Abduction (81/135) Symptomatic: 45 Asymptomatic:36 |
67 symptomatic 68 asymptomatic |
McClure Method |
| Rabin et al 2018 | Shoulder outpatient clinic | 74 consecutive patients referred to an outpatient shoulder surgery unit (6F/68M) | 74/74 (reported as individual) | 33 | Yes | Visual observation, Kibler method |
| Sahinoglu et al 2020 | Posterior shoulder tightness on SD | 121 college aged M (non-overhead athletes); mean age 21 | 121/242 (dominant and non-dominant shoulder) | Total-115 (dominant-56) (non-dominant-59) |
No | McClure yes/no method |
| Sant et al 2018 | SD in asymptomatic water polo players | 25M semi-professional water polo players; study group mean age 23.3; control mean age 23.1 | 25/25 (individuals with SD) | 23 | No | Kibler method Type I-IV |
| Seitz et al 2015 | Overhead athletes, comparing change in scapular kinematics between unweighted & maximal weighted contractions | 25 asymptomatic overhead athletes (swimming-5, volleyball-15, water polo-5); SD mean age 20.3; w/o SD mean age 20.5 | 25/25, dominant shoulder | 14 | No | SD test, visual observation |
| Shah et al 2016 | Musicians (guitar): presence of SD | 40 participants (20 guitar professional guitar players and 20 age matched non guitar players) |
40/40 (dominant shoulders only) | Asymmetrical (5 guitar players) (0 non guitar players) Dyskinetic (4 guitar players) (0 non guitar players) |
No | LSST at 0, 45, and 90 with and without weights |
| Silva et al 2018 | Musicians: presence of SD | 72 musicians (24M & 48F). Selected 36 symptomatic (cervical, shoulder or upper extremity pain in the last year with constant symptoms lasting more than 1 week) & 36 control; symptomatic mean age 23.28; control mean age 25.03 | 72/72 | Total - 35 (26 from symptomatic group, 9 from control group) |
36 | McClure and Tate method (Visually assessed participants by having them do five repetitions of bilateral, active, weighted shoulder flexion in the sagittal plane and bilateral, active, weighted shoulder abduction in the frontal plane) |
| Struyf et al 2014 | Amateur sports, evaluating risk factors for developing SPN | 113 recreational overhead athletes (59F & 54M), all aged>18 (tennis: 26, volleyball: 27, baseball: 5, badminton: 35, handball: 10); pain mean age 36.6; pain free mean age 33.2 | 113/113 | 62/113 demonstrated SD in dominant shoulder (33 winging & 29 forward tilting) | Baseline no pain 25/113 developed pain within 2 years |
Diagnosed by visual observation in 3 positions: static with both arms relaxed (thumbs facing forward), hands placed on ipsilateral hips (thumbs facing backward) and arms in 90° of humeral abduction in the frontal plane (thumbs facing up) |
| Tsuruike et al 2018 | Sport study (collegiate baseball) | 30M collegiate baseball players (13 pitchers) | 30/30 | 14 (Mild SD in 7 pitchers + 7 position players) | No | Kibler method |
| Welbeck et al 2019 | Link between thoracic rotation, SD, and pain among swimmers | 34 division I swimmers (13M and 21F); mean age 19.6; | 34/34 (as individuals, not shoulders) | Total: 15 (6 male and 9 female) | No | McClure yes/no method |
| Yesilyaprak et al | University research laboratory | 148 participants (58F/90M); no sporting activity or work with overhead movements | 148/296 | 87 (reported as individual shoulder: 87/296) | No | SDT |
| Yüksel et al 2014 | Reliability of SDT & LSST | 83 healthy participants (32F & 51M), mean age 21.74, have active full shoulder motion | 83/83 | SDT detected 44 (53%), LSST detected 30 (36%). Both detected 20 (24%) | No | SDT & LSST |
Abbreviations: AC; acromioclavicular, FS; frozen shoulder, GHJ; glenohumeral joint, GH OA; glenohumeral joint osteoarthritis, GIRD; glenohumeral internal rotation deficit, LSST; lateral scapular slide test, MCL; medial collateral ligament, OCD; osteochondritis dissecans, ROM; range of motion, ROTC; reserve officer training corps, RSP; rounded shoulder posture, SD; scapular dyskinesis, SDT; scapular dyskinesis test, SICK scapula; scapular malposition + inferior medial border prominence + coracoid pain and malposition + dyskinesis of scapular movement, SIS; shoulder impingement syndrome, SLAP; superior labrum anterior to posterior, VEO; valgus extension overload, M; Male, F; female, SPN; shoulder pain.