Risk of Shoulder/Elbow Injuries and Imaging Abnormalities in Female Collegiate Baseball and Softball Players

Area of Science:

• Sports Medicine
• Orthopedics
• Epidemiology

Background:

• Overhead-throwing athletes, particularly female collegiate baseball and softball players, experience common shoulder and elbow injuries.
• Limited data exist on injury prevalence and imaging abnormalities in this demographic, especially concerning early sport participation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the prevalence of shoulder and elbow injuries and imaging abnormalities in female collegiate baseball and softball players.
• To identify factors associated with these injuries, with a focus on early sport participation.

Main Methods:

• Cross-sectional observational study of 67 female collegiate baseball (14) and softball (53) players.
• Utilized questionnaires for self-reported injuries and diagnostic ultrasound for structural abnormalities.
• Firth penalized logistic regression analyzed associations between early participation and symptoms/abnormalities.

Main Results:

• High prevalence of abnormal shoulder (79.3% softball, 100% baseball) and elbow (56.6% softball, 50% baseball) ultrasound findings.
• Shoulder pain reported by 35.9% softball, 64.3% baseball; elbow pain by 32.1% softball, 35.7% baseball.
• Pre-high school baseball participation strongly associated with abnormal elbow imaging (OR=9.26) and shoulder symptoms (OR=21.99).

Conclusions:

• Abnormal shoulder and elbow ultrasound findings are highly prevalent in female collegiate overhead athletes.
• Early baseball participation (pre-high school) is significantly linked to increased upper extremity injury risk.
• Softball participation before high school did not show significant associations with elbow or shoulder abnormalities.