Reliability and Reference Values of Pressure Pain Threshold Measurements of Upper and Lower Limb Muscles of Young Swimmers

Objective: To investigate the reliability of the pressure algometer in competitive swimmers and the influence of intrinsic and extrinsic factors on Pressure Pain Threshold (PPT).

Design: Observational study conducted in two phases to investigate intra and inter-rater reliability.

Methods: Fifty swimmers from competitive teams aged between 12 to 20 years old were included in this study. First, the history of injury was assessed by the Self-reported morbidity survey and then PPT assessed by hand-held pressure algometer, and discomfort was measured by a 11-point numerical rating scale by two assessors in a randomized order with a 20-minute interval to avoid influence of the first measurement. A week later, the assessors performed the same evaluation in a different order.