Prevalence of Shoulder and Elbow Overuse Injuries Among Competitive Overhead Youth Athletes in Singapore

There is a dearth of information related to shoulder and elbow overuse injuries in Asian overhead youth athletes.

To determine the prevalence and severity of shoulder and elbow overuse injuries, as well as their associated factors, among competitive overhead youth athletes in Singapore.

Descriptive epidemiology study.

Participants completed a survey consisting of 4 multiple-choice questions and 1 open-ended question. Data on sex, age, playing experience, and weekly training hours were also collected. Separate injury severity scores (range, 0-100, with higher scores indicating greater severity) for the shoulder and elbow were tabulated from the responses to the multiple-choice questions. The association between participant characteristics and presence of shoulder and elbow overuse injuries was determined using the chi-square test. Crude odds ratios (ORs) and 95% CIs were also calculated.

532 overhead youth athletes (age, 12-18 years) responded, of which 434 responses were included for analysis. Badminton, cricket, softball, swimming, and volleyball were some of the sports studied. The prevalence of shoulder and elbow overuse injuries was 31.3% and 9.2%, respectively. The respective severity scores were 30.4 ± 14.4 and 38.4 ± 22.4. Age was associated with the presence of both shoulder (P = .016) and elbow (P = .037) overuse injuries. Years of experience was associated with the presence of substantial elbow injuries (P = .049). Weekly training hours was associated with the presence of shoulder (P = .016) and substantial shoulder (P = .020) injuries. Being older (15-18 years) increased the odds of shoulder (OR, 1.65; 95% CI, 1.10-2.49) and elbow (OR, 2.04; 95% CI, 1.03-4.01) overuse injuries. Having >8 years of experience increased the odds of substantial shoulder (OR, 2.71; 95% CI, 1.01-7.29) and substantial elbow (OR, 3.92; 95% CI, 1.01-15.24) overuse injuries. Training >11 hours per week increased the odds of shoulder overuse injuries (OR, 2.64; 95% CI, 1.31-5.30).

Shoulder overuse injuries were more prevalent, but elbow injuries tended to be of greater severity among competitive overhead youth athletes in Singapore. Coaches working with older and experienced youth athletes, especially those training >11 hours per week, should be cognizant of the risk of shoulder and elbow overuse injuries.