Effect of Localized and Comprehensive Injury Prevention Exercises on Performance, Stability, Upper Limb Function, and Rotator Cuff Muscle Endurance in Adolescent Swimmers

To determine the effect of eight weeks of local and comprehensive injury prevention exercises on sports performance, upper limb stability and function, and rotator cuff muscle endurance in adolescent swimmers

A clinical trial with three parallel groups, double-blind, randomized, with a sample size of 26 participants and phase 3. Randomization was performed using the RAND function in Microsoft Excel.

This was a randomized parallel clinical trial on healthy adolescent swimmers at Tadbir and Omid Swimming Pool, Ilam. The study evaluated the effect of injury prevention exercises on shoulder function and endurance. Participants provided consent and were assigned to three groups: control, local, and comprehensive, with interventions lasting eight weeks, three sessions per week. Outcome assessors and data analysts were blinded.

Inclusion Criteria: Male gender; Adolescent swimmers aged between 10 and 17 years; Non-professional (amateur) participants; Completion and signing of written informed consent form Exclusion Criteria: Presence of any disease or history of injury; History of surgery in the shoulder girdle region

Control group: Performed routine weekly swimming Local exercises group: Performed stretching, activation, and strengthening exercises for the shoulder muscles Comprehensive exercises group: Performed shoulder stretching, activation, and strengthening exercises, in addition to scapular stabilizer exercises, core muscle exercises, and integrated neuromuscular training

Upper limb stability in the closed kinetic chain; Upper limb dynamic stability; Rotator cuff muscle endurance; Front crawl performance of adolescent swimmers

In this study, simple individual randomization was used. The random sequence was generated using Microsoft Excel with the RAND function. Each participant was randomly assigned to one of three study groups (control, local exercises, comprehensive exercises). For allocation concealment, sealed opaque envelopes were used to ensure that both participants and assessors were unaware of the assigned group.

In this study, outcome assessors and data analysts were blinded to group assignments to prevent bias in data collection and analysis. Participants were aware of their assigned group because they needed to receive full information about the intervention. The principal investigator and personnel responsible for administering the exercises were also aware of group assignments. The Data Safety and Monitoring Committee was not involved in this study.

After completion of data analysis, de-identified individual participant data—including demographic information and outcomes related to the primary and secondary variables—will be available upon reasonable written request from qualified researchers, subject to approval by the principal investigator. All identifiable information will be removed or anonymized before sharing.

Access to de-identified participant data will be available starting six months after publication of the study results and will remain accessible for five years thereafter.

The data will be available to researchers and academic faculty members from universities or research institutions who have a relevant research proposal and obtain approval from an ethics committee.

The data may only be used for scientific and educational research purposes. Data use must align with approved research objectives and have prior ethical committee approval. Applicants are required to submit a research proposal, a data use agreement, and a confidentiality commitment. Any commercial use, unauthorized publication, or analysis beyond the approved scope is strictly prohibited.

Requests for access to the data or related documents should be addressed to Dr. Afshin Moghaddasi, Assistant Professor, Payame Noor University. Postal Address: Payame Noor University, Nakhl Street, Artesh Boulevard, Tehran, Iran, Postal Code: 193954697 Phone: +982122450000 Email: moghadasi@pnu.ac.ir

The process for requesting data or documents is as follows: 1.The applicant prepares a research proposal along with a data access request form and a confidentiality agreement, and submits them via email to Dr. Afshin Moghaddasi. 2. The request is reviewed by the University Ethics and Research Committee to ensure that the intended use of the data aligns with the study protocol and ethical guidelines. 3. Upon approval, access to the de-identified participant data or requested documents is granted, and the relevant files or download link are sent via email. 4. The entire process typically takes 2 to 4 weeks after receiving the complete request, depending on the data volume and review time.

All provided data and documents will be accessible after removing any personally identifiable information of participants. Any use of the data must comply with the approved research objectives, and publication of results should cite the original study. Applicants are also required to adhere to all data protection regulations and maintain confidentiality of the information.