MSc, Physiotherapy, Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand / Introduction Disabled sport has become very popular over the last decade with a variety of sports now available for persons with disabilities to compete in. Wheelchair basketball is a fast growing sport in South Africa. However, it is also considered a high-risk sport with most reported injuries coming from participating in the game along with tennis, road racing, rugby and soccer (Nunome et al, 2002, Ferrara and Peterson, 2000 and Curtis, 1997). The sport is characterised by high intensity propulsion and manoeuvring as well as reaching overhead for shooting, passing and rebounding (Goosey-Tolfrey et al, 2002 and Curtis et al, 1999). The athletes are thus at risk of developing in particular shoulder injuries. This study aimed to establish the prevalence of shoulder pain in South African; Gauteng based professional male wheelchair basketball players. It aimed to highlight predisposing factors contributing to the prevalence of shoulder pain as well as establish whether there is a difference in shoulder pain between the wheelchair bound athletes vs. the otherwise ambulatory athletes. By quantifying the magnitude of the problem it was hoped that awareness would lead to measures taken to rectify any problems highlighted by the research. Methods Twenty-nine professional South African: Gauteng male wheelchair basketball players took part in a cross sectional descriptive survey based study. The researcher, following signed informed consent, administered a piloted valid and reliable questionnaire to gain information regarding demographics, medical history and lifestyle habits. Results were expressed in the form of tables and graphs with frequencies, percentages and averages used to describe findings. Results Prevalence of shoulder pain was found to be 72.4% with 21 of 29 participants having experienced shoulder pain since using a wheelchair and 11 of the 29 (37.9%) having current shoulder pain. The number of years using a wheelchair significantly influenced the prevalence iv of shoulder pain (p = 0.03). One hundred percent (nine out of nine) of participants who had been using a wheelchair for longer than 10 years had experienced the problem, while of those who had been using a wheelchair for less than 10 years, 57.14% (four out of seven) had experienced shoulder pain. Time spent at work was found to be significantly associated with the presence of shoulder pain. Of the 12 people who worked more than 30 hours per week, 12 (100%) had experienced shoulder pain (p = 0.05). In the comparison of the ambulatory vs non ambulatory athletes, the wheelchair bound participants tended to be more likely to experience shoulder pain with 12 out of 15 having shoulder problems and 7 of the 12 ambulatory participants having experienced shoulder pain. This was however not a significant finding (p = 0.22). Conclusion It was found that the prevalence of shoulder pain in professional wheelchair basketball athletes in Gauteng was 72.4%. This was significantly associated with hours spent at work as well as years spent using a wheelchair. There were no significant findings regarding shoulder pain prevalence in the otherwise ambulatory vs wheelchair bound wheelchair basketball athletes. Shoulder pain is an important problem in the wheelchair basketball athlete. More education is needed regarding prevention of shoulder problems in our athletes with an emphasis on posture and ergonomic handling.

Submitted in partial compliance with the requirements for the Master’s Degree in Technology: Chiropractic, Department of Chiropractic, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Background There has been a remarkable increase in the participation of sport for athletes with disabilities. Consequently, there have been many international studies on injuries in athletes which have shown a high prevalence in wheelchair basketball, largely attributed to the fast-paced, high intensity nature of the sport. This sport has grown worldwide including South Africa, however, very little research has been published on South African wheelchair basketball players and more research is, therefore, needed. Aim To determine the prevalence and profile of musculoskeletal pain in elite wheelchair basketball players of different point classifications in South Africa. Hypothesis 1: Upper extremity (including neck and back) pain is experienced more commonly in lower point classified wheelchair basketball players than in higher point classified players. Hypothesis 2: Lower extremity pain is experienced more commonly in higher point classified players than in lower point classified players Method This study was a quantitative, cross-sectional, questionnaire-based study. The questionnaire comprised of sub-sections on demographics and disability characteristics; activity levels pertaining to wheelchair basketball and other sport/physical activity; the prevalence of pain and the impact thereof on wheelchair basketball and/or activities of daily living. This questionnaire was administered to 48 wheelchair basketball players who were competing in the 2015 Supersport League. A response rate of 70% was decided as the lower limit cut-off for statistical power. Results Fourty-three participants responded yielding an 89.58% response rate. The mean age of participants was 33.3 (SD:9.5) years and the majority of participants (n=35) were male and African (n=29). Out of the 43 participants, 79.1% (n=34) used mobility devices, the majority (n=20) used wheelchairs. Most of the participants (n=41) played wheelchair basketball for more than five years and 32 participants did not participate in other sport. Almost half of the participants (n=25) experienced musculoskeletal pain in the last twelve months or at present, 75% of whom (n=12) visited a Physiotherapist for the pain. More than half of these participants (n=15; 60%) reported that the pain negatively affected their basketball performance. It was established that arm pain occurred frequently in lower point classified players (1.0-2.5 point players) and that hand and wrist pain was also more prevalent in lower point players than in higher point players. The prevalence of lower extremity pain was low and there was no statistically significant difference between higher and lower point classified players. Conclusions and Recommendations The finding that upper extremity pain occurred more frequently in lower point classified players was in keeping with the first hypothesis (the null hypothesis was, therefore, rejected). The second hypothesis was, however, rejected (and the null hypothesis was, therefore, accepted) as lower extremity pain did not occur more frequently in higher point classified players than in lower point classified players. The Eta scores may have been higher and may have shown a much larger than typical relationship between point classification and the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain had there been a larger sample size. Notwithstanding this limitation, it is a challenge to obtain a significantly larger sample size due to the nature and limited number of participants in this sport. More studies are warranted on this group of individuals, as a large number experienced pain which affected more than half of the participants’ performance in wheelchair basketball. These studies are important for the future success of the South African players and the sport in South Africa. / M