Assessing Bilateral Scapular Asymmetry in Healthy Populations. A Meta analysis.
Description
Bilateral asymmetry in scapulothoracic movement is often mislabeled as pathological in healthy populations due to some underlying difference in arm usage based on dominance, preference, or athletic background. There has yet to be a summary of the literature identifying trends in bilateral differences in non-pathological populations. The goal of this study is to summarize and report on scapulothoracic bilateral asymmetries in non-pathological, healthy populations. Our aim is to summarize the literature and provide clinicians with potential benchmark side-to-side differences to take into consideration when examining patients with pathologies. A total of seven searches were performed using PubMed, netting 341 results, with 20 studies retained based on relevant inclusion criteria. Meta analyses were performed using SPSS. The dominant scapula overall was found to have more upward and internal rotation during flexion and scaption, and the non-dominant scapula had more anterior tilt during flexion. The upward rotation asymmetry was specifically shown at arm elevations of 30°, 60°, and 120° for the sagittal plane and at 120° for the scapular plane. The dominant scapula increased internal rotation was specifically shown during flexion and scaption at 30°, 60°, 90°, and 120° degrees of arm elevation. The increased anterior tilt for the non-dominant side was observed only during flexion at arm elevation of 90° and 120°. Our findings support the presence of bilateral asymmetries in non-pathological populations based on arm dominance and/or athletic participation. Clinicians should consider these non-pathological differences to help determine injury risk due to scapulothoracic movement dysfunction.
Citation Information
DeSantis, Peter and Vardaxis, Vassilios, "Assessing Bilateral Scapular Asymmetry in Healthy Populations. A Meta analysis." (2026). Office of Research DMU Research Symposium. 20.
https://digitalcommons.dmu.edu/researchsymposium/2025rs/2025abstracts/20
Assessing Bilateral Scapular Asymmetry in Healthy Populations. A Meta analysis.
Bilateral asymmetry in scapulothoracic movement is often mislabeled as pathological in healthy populations due to some underlying difference in arm usage based on dominance, preference, or athletic background. There has yet to be a summary of the literature identifying trends in bilateral differences in non-pathological populations. The goal of this study is to summarize and report on scapulothoracic bilateral asymmetries in non-pathological, healthy populations. Our aim is to summarize the literature and provide clinicians with potential benchmark side-to-side differences to take into consideration when examining patients with pathologies. A total of seven searches were performed using PubMed, netting 341 results, with 20 studies retained based on relevant inclusion criteria. Meta analyses were performed using SPSS. The dominant scapula overall was found to have more upward and internal rotation during flexion and scaption, and the non-dominant scapula had more anterior tilt during flexion. The upward rotation asymmetry was specifically shown at arm elevations of 30°, 60°, and 120° for the sagittal plane and at 120° for the scapular plane. The dominant scapula increased internal rotation was specifically shown during flexion and scaption at 30°, 60°, 90°, and 120° degrees of arm elevation. The increased anterior tilt for the non-dominant side was observed only during flexion at arm elevation of 90° and 120°. Our findings support the presence of bilateral asymmetries in non-pathological populations based on arm dominance and/or athletic participation. Clinicians should consider these non-pathological differences to help determine injury risk due to scapulothoracic movement dysfunction.
