The reproducibility of assessing arm elevation in the scapular plane on the Cybex 340

Isokinetic testing of arm elevation in the scapular plane offers several advantages over the frontal plane. The purpose of this investigation was to determine the intraexaminer reproducibility of scapular plane (30°anterior to frontal plane) elevation peak torques using a Cybex 340 isokinetic dynamometer. Twelve female and three male (N = 15) noninjured college students were tested on three separate occasions over a six week interval. Dominant shoulder scapular plane elevation was measured with participants seated utilizing a modified abduction/adduction protocol. Testing consisted of four gradient sub-maximum to maximum warm-ups followed by five maximum repetitions at 60°/sec, 180°/sec, and 300°/sec. Intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) indicated that scapular plane elevation peak torques may be measured using these techniques with good reproducibility at 60°/sec (0.870) and 180°/sec (0.827), and fair reproducibility at 300°/sec (0.708). Results suggest that scapular plane arm elevation isokinetic testing should be conducted at slower angular-velocities to obtain more reproducible measurements.