The VISA-C Questionnaire: A Self-Administered Assessment to Measure Finger/Hand/Wrist Pain in Climbers

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopedics
• Biomechanics

Background:

• Rock climbing imposes significant stress on the hands, wrists, and fingers, leading to high injury incidence, particularly in the fingers.
• Existing methods lack a standardized tool to assess forearm pain and readiness to train in climbers.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate the VISA-C (Victorian Institute of Sports-like Assessment for climbing) questionnaire.
• To quantify forearm pain and its impact on training limitations in rock climbers.

Main Methods:

• An 8-question online survey was administered to 1,110 rock climbers aged 18-50.
• Data collected over a 9-week period from an international sample (54 countries).
• A supplementary questionnaire assessed demographics, lifestyle, health, and climbing habits.

Main Results:

• VISA-C scores demonstrated a clear correlation with pain severity: highest in pain-free climbers (83.21/100), lower with some pain (72.28/100), and lowest with activity-limiting pain (60.05/100).
• Blood pressure was the only demographic or health variable significantly associated with VISA-C scores.

Conclusions:

• The VISA-C questionnaire reliably scales with forearm pain severity in rock climbers across diverse demographics.
• While some variables correlated with pain or skill, no single factor strongly predicted both, suggesting complex interactions.
• Further research is warranted to explore novel associations identified in secondary analyses.