Impact of low back pain experience on future occurrence of shoulder pain in adolescent baseball players: A 1-year prospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Low back pain can affect musculoskeletal problems of the upper limb in adolescent overhead athletes. However, few epidemiological studies have examined this causal relationship. This prospective cohort study aimed to investigate the relationship between baseline low back pain experience and the occurrence of future shoulder and elbow pain among high school baseball players. METHODS: Participants comprised 383 high school baseball players from 43 high school baseball teams who had undergone baseline medical evaluations (a self-completed questionnaire and physical examination). The occurrence of shoulder and elbow pain during a 1-year follow-up and associations with baseline low back pain (positive subjective symptom during the last year at baseline) adjusted for flexibility of the scapulo-thoracic region, shoulder, and lower extremities, such as straight-leg raise angle (hamstring tightness), Thomas test (iliopsoas tightness), heel-buttock-distance (quadriceps tightness) and passive range of motion of the hip were investigated using multivariable analysis. RESULTS: A total of 307 players (80.2%) participated in the 1-year follow-up survey, with shoulder and elbow pain reported in 75 players (24.4%) and 119 players (38.8%), respectively, during follow-up. After adjusting for factors associated with shoulder pain using logistic regression modeling, significant associations between LBP experienced during the last year at baseline (odds ratio, 2.18; 95% confidence interval, 1.23-3.87; P = 0.0078) and new-onset of shoulder pain were noted. CONCLUSIONS: Baseline low back pain impacted future shoulder pain in high school baseball players during the 1-year follow-up. Management of shoulder pain warrants careful attention to low back pain.

Arnold tongue of electrochemical nonlinear oscillators.

We study the Arnold tongue of a nonlinear electrochemical oscillator entrained to an electrical periodic forcing. In our system, the width of the 1:3 entrainment region was broader than that of the 1:2 region. The 1:1 and 1:3 regions became monotonically broad when the conductance of the electrode cell was increased by the electrochemical redox reaction of Fe(CN)(6)(4-) <==> Fe(CN)(6)(3-) + e. In contrast, the 1:2 region changed nonmonotonically. In particular, the rate of change in the 1:2 region was greater than those of the 1:1 and 1:3 regions. These experimental results were qualitatively reproduced by the use of phase response curves of a corresponding mathematical model. We also discuss higher harmonics included in a limit cycle describing the isolated oscillator, dependence on the redox reaction, and hysteresis due to a bistability.