Development of a rugby shoulder function (RSF) questionnaire: An online Delphi study

Objective: Develop a questionnaire to monitor symptoms of player perceived shoulder function/ dysfunction.

Design: 3-Stage Online Delphi Study.

Methods: Participants: surgeons, sports and exercise medics, academic researchers, strength and conditioning coaches, therapists and athletes split by level of expertise/experience. Stage-1: experts (n = 12) rated constructs/items from the steering group and made changes/proposed additional constructs/items. Stage-2: experts rated/amended new constructs/items from stage-1. Stage-3: experienced professionals (n = 25) rated/ranked constructs/items from stage 2. Consensus thresholds were defined per stage (50% agreement/4e5 rating on 1e5 Likert scale (stages 1e2), 68% agreement, and items ranked for perceived importance (stage-3)).

Results: Stage-1, all four constructs (a. Activities of daily living, b. Range of motion, c. Strength and conditioning, d. Sports specific training and competition) and 26/42 original items achieved consensus. Twelve items were combined into five items. Four new items were also proposed. Stage-2, the combined items and three of the four new items achieved consensus. Stage-3 the four constructs and 22 items all achieved consensus.

Conclusions: Following a 3-stage online Delphi process, involving expert and experienced clinicians, practitioners and athletes, a new four-construct, 22 item RSF questionnaire has been developed which can be used with rugby players, to monitor perceived shoulder performance and symptoms.