Shoulder problems are highly prevalent among manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury, affecting their functioning and quality of life. This study investigates the impact of fatigue on wheelchair propulsion technique and shoulder loading in manual wheelchair users (MWU) with SCI. Twelve MWU with a paraplegia performed a standardized fatiguing wheelchair propulsion protocol; a biomechanical assessment of treadmill propulsion was obtained before and after the fatiguing protocol. Rate of perceived exertion (RPE), upper extremity kinematics, and wheelchair propulsion kinetics were assessed. Results showed increased RPE post-fatigue, with no significant changes in exerted forces but increased thorax forward lean and range of motion. Musculoskeletal modelling showed elevated glenohumeral joint contact force and muscle forces post-fatigue. These findings suggest a potential link between fatigue, altered propulsion technique, and increased shoulder loading, highlighting the risk of overuse injuries. Moreover, increased thorax motion during propulsion may indicate fatigue onset. Prospective cohort studies are warranted to validate the presented findings and explore the relationship between shoulder loading and injury risk. Understanding these dynamics can inform interventions to mitigate shoulder pain and enhance the well-being of MWU with SCI.

Manual wheelchair users experience significant upper extremity strain, leading to a high prevalence of shoulder pain. Identifying modifiable risk factors for shoulder complaints is crucial for developing effective interventions. Consequently, it's important to quantify shoulder load (magnitude, frequency and duration) experienced by manual wheelchair users throughout the day. This study aims to quantify the magnitude of shoulder load during various daily activities, including wheelchair propulsion at different speeds and inclines, ascending and descending ramps, weight relief lift, material handling and desk work. Ten able-bodied participants performed these activities while their upper extremity kinematics and exerted forces were measured. The analysis focused on glenohumeral contact force and rotator cuff muscle forces using the Delft Shoulder and Elbow Model. Highest mean glenohumeral contact forces were found during weight relief lift (1363 ± 1204 N), followed by descending a ramp (997 ± 1043 N) and fast propulsion (802 ± 742 N). The supraspinatus muscle generated the greatest force during weight relief lift (327 ± 490 N) and fast propulsion (184 ± 205 N). These findings provide a first reference for estimating joint load in daily activities. By combining these data with the individual activity frequency and duration, personalized shoulder load exposure can be assessed, informing the development of targeted interventions to reduce shoulder pain in manual wheelchair users.

Shoulder problems (pain and pathology) are highly prevalent in manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury. These problems lead to limitations in activities of daily life (ADL), labor- and leisure participation, and increase the health care costs. Shoulder problems are often associated with the long-term reliance on the upper limbs, and the accompanying “shoulder load”. To make an estimation of daily shoulder load, it is crucial to know which ADL are performed and how these are executed in the free-living environment (in terms of magnitude, frequency, and duration). The aim of this study was to develop and validate methodology for the classification of wheelchair related shoulder loading ADL (SL-ADL) from wearable sensor data. Ten able bodied participants equipped with five Shimmer sensors on a wheelchair and upper extremity performed eight relevant SL-ADL. Deep learning networks using bidirectional long short-term memory networks were trained on sensor data (acceleration, gyroscope signals and EMG), using video annotated activities as the target. Overall, the trained algorithm performed well, with an accuracy of 98% and specificity of 99%. When reducing the input for training the network to data from only one sensor, the overall performance decreased to around 80% for all performance measures. The use of only forearm sensor data led to a better performance than the use of the upper arm sensor data. It can be concluded that a generalizable algorithm could be trained by a deep learning network to classify wheelchair related SL-ADL from the wearable sensor data.

Objective: To describe the number, specifics and co-occurrence of shoulder pathologies detected by MRI in manual wheelchair users with spinal cord injury and to evaluate the association between shoulder pathologies and presence of shoulder pain. Design: Cross-sectional observation study. Setting: Community. Participants: Fifty-one wheelchair-dependent persons with spinal cord injury (44 males, 7 females, median age 50 years (IQR 14), median time since injury 24 years (IQR 16)) were allocated to pain or no-pain group based on the Wheelchair User Shoulder Pain Index. Interventions: Not applicable Outcome measures: All persons underwent shoulder MRI. Pathologies were scored blinded by two experienced radiologists. Participant characteristics, number and severity of shoulder pathologies were analyzed descriptively. Logistic regression was performed to evaluate the association between MRI findings and shoulder pain. Results: The median number of co-occurring MRI findings per person ranged from 0 to 19 (out of 31 possible findings). The cluster of MRI findings occurring most often together were tendon tears of supraspinatus (present in 84%), subscapularis (69%) and biceps (67%) and osteoarthritis of acromioclavicular joint (80%). When correcting for age and time since injury, the logistic regression showed no statistically significant correlation between the individual pathologies and shoulder pain. Conclusion: MRI findings of shoulder pathology are very frequent in persons with and without shoulder pain. Therefore, when diagnosing the cause of shoulder pain and planning interventions, health care professionals should keep this finding in mind and MRI should not be interpreted without careful consideration of clinical history and functional testing.