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Updated: Jul 10, 2026
Measuring 3D In-vivo Shoulder Kinematics using Biplanar Videoradiography
Published on: March 12, 2021
Psychometric Properties of Patient-Reported Outcome Measures Assessing Shoulder Function in Athletes: A Systematic
Eleftherios Paraskevopoulos1, George M Pamboris2, Kyriakos Pavlou2
1School of Physical Education and Sport Science, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece.
Purpose:
Athlete-specific patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) are essential for evaluating shoulder function in sports contexts; however, their measurement properties, sport-specific applicability and responsiveness remain inconsistently established. This study aimed to critically appraise the development, psychometric properties and cross-cultural adaptations of athlete-specific shoulder PROMs, with a particular focus on reliability, validity and responsiveness.
Methods:
A comprehensive search was conducted in MEDLINE, Embase, Web of Science, SPORTDiscus and Scopus up to September 2025, complemented by manual reference screening. Studies were considered eligible if they evaluated at least one psychometric property of PROMs specifically developed to assess shoulder function in athletic populations. Methodological quality was appraised using the COSMIN Risk of Bias checklist, and overall study quality was rated using the Quality Appraisal for Clinical Measurement Studies tool. Meta-analysis was considered but not feasible due to substantial heterogeneity in study populations, PROMs and statistical indices.
Results:
Twenty studies met the inclusion criteria: six original PROMs and fourteen cross-cultural adaptations, mostly of the KJOC. Reliability was good-to-excellent (ICC = 0.88-0.97) across PROMs. Construct validity was strongest for the KJOC and FAST, while single-item PROMs (SSV-Sport, SPORTS) showed feasibility but narrower construct coverage and ceiling effects. Responsiveness was best supported for the FAST and SSV-Sport, whereas longitudinal responsiveness was rarely examined in translations.
Conclusions:
The FAST and KJOC exhibit the most consistent and comparatively robust measurement evidence among athlete-specific shoulder PROMs. Single-item scores offer practicality but limited scope, and future validation studies should prioritise responsiveness, interpretability and anchor-based minimal clinically important differences to enhance clinical applicability.