Participants were initially assessed for their suitability for inclusion in the study and underwent a physical screening of the affected shoulder and cervical spine by an experienced post-graduate Sports physiotherapist with more than 15 years of clinical experience.
This session was also used to familiarize the participant with the testing procedures, laboratory environment and investigators.
Participants attended three sessions at approximately the same time each day to prevent any diurnal variations in joint range and pain potentially confounding results and with at least an intervening 24 h interval to reduce the influence of any carry-over effect. Testing was conducted in a temperature and humidity controlled laboratory.
The participants were requested to avoid factors that may influence their shoulder pain, such as analgesics and/or anti-inflammatory medication during the week of testing