• The Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI) is a simple and effective self-report questionnaire for quickly measuring the functional cost of shoulder pain in wheelchair users.
  • The WUSPI targets activity limitation resulting from shoulder pain (4 subsections), including wheelchair transfers, wheelchair mobility, self-care and general activities. However, it does not obtain information about the type or frequency of pain experienced during the activities.

ICF Domain

Body Function ▶ Sensory Functions

Number of Items

15 items

Equipment

None

Scoring

  • You will need approximately 5 minutes to complete the WUSPI.
  • Each item is scored 0-10 on a 10 cm visual analog scale (VAS).
  • Total score (0-150) is the sum of all item scores.
  • Higher scores indicate greater interference due to shoulder pain.
  • No strategies are suggested to assist with scoring if a person indicates they do not do certain activities (e.g./ load their chair into a car).

Languages

English

Training Required

None

Availability

Can be found by contacting the author (Dr. Kathleen Curtis, kacurtis@utep.edu).

# of studies reporting psychometric properties: 4

Interpretability

MCID: not established in SCI
SEM: 1.84
MDC: 5.10

(Curtis et al. 1995b)

Reliability – High

  • High Test-retest Reliability:
    ICC = 0.99

(Curtis et al. 1995b)

  • High Internal Consistency:
    α = 0.97

(Curtis et al. 1995a)

Validity – Low to High

  • Low correlation with Klein-Bell ADL Scale:
    Correlation = 0.10

(Samuelsson et al. 2004)

  • High Convergent Validity with Numerical Rating Scale 101 (for Pain):
    Correlation = 0.723

(Salisbury et al. 2006)

Responsiveness

No values were reported for the responsiveness in the WUSPI for the SCI population.

Floor/ceiling effect

No values were reported for the presence of floor/ceiling effects in the WUSPI for the SCI population.

Reviewers

Dr. Carlos L. Cano-Herrera, Elsa Sun

Date Last Updated

31 December 2024

Curtis KA, Roach KE, Applegate EB, Amar T, Benbow CS, Genecco TD, Gualano J. Development of the Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI). Paraplegia 1995;33:290-293.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/7630657

Curtis KA, Roach KE, Applegate EB, Amar T, Benbow CS, Genecco TD, Gualano J. Reliability and validity of the Wheelchair User’s Shoulder Pain Index (WUSPI). Paraplegia 1995;33:595-601.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/8848314

Salisbury SK, Nitz J, Souvlis T. Shoulder pain following tetraplegia: a follow-up study 2-4 years after injury. Spinal Cord. 2006 Dec;44(12):723-8. doi: 10.1038/sj.sc.3101908. Epub 2006 Feb 28. Erratum in: Spinal Cord. 2009 Apr;47(4):350.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16505828/ 

Samuelsson KAM, Tropp H, Gerdle B. Shoulder pain and its consequences in paraplegic spinal cord-injured wheelchair users. Spinal Cord 2004; 42:41–46.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/14713943

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