Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Reliability, and Validity of the Greek Version of the Subjective Patient Outcome for Return to Sports (SPORTS) Score Questionnaire in Athletes with Various Shoulder Pathologies.

Background

Shoulder injury is common among athletes who engage in sports where the upper limb is actively involved. These injuries can affect an athlete's performance and ability to return to sports at the preinjury level. This study aimed to cross-culturally adapt the Subjective Patient Outcome for Return to Sports score in Greek (SPORTS-GR) and evaluate its reliability and construct validity.

Methods

Sixty-five Greek athletes (18-40 years) diagnosed with shoulder pathology were included. The SPORTS-GR was adapted according to standard procedures, and its construct validity was examined via associations with the Shoulder Pain and Disability Index (SPADI-GR) questionnaire, which assesses pain and disability related to shoulder pathologies. Test-retest reliability was tested by repeating the SPORTS score questionnaire administration after 6-8 days. Eligible athletes were selected from the Hellenic Supreme Council of Military Sports.

Results

Face validity was excellent with a ceiling effect of 35.4%. The construct validity was high, with strong negative correlations between the SPORTS-GR score and the SPADI-GR total score (r = -0.91, p < 0.001), pain subscale score (r = -0.84, p < 0.001), disability subscale score (r = -0.90, p < 0.001), and age (r = 0.26, p = 0.04). Test-retest reliability was also excellent (ICC = 0.98) with no significant systematic error (SEM = 0.09).

Conclusions

The SPORTS-GR is valid and reliable for evaluating athletes' return to sports with shoulder pathologies.