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Baseball injuries: a Little League survey
J S Pasternack1, K R Veenema, C M Callahan
1Department of Emergency Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine & Dentistry, New York 14642, USA.
Pediatrics
|September 1, 1996
Summary
Youth baseball has a low overall injury rate, with most acute injuries caused by ball impact, especially for defensive players. Safety efforts should focus on reducing these ball-related injuries.
Area of Science:
- Sports Medicine
- Pediatric Orthopedics
- Injury Prevention
Background:
- Youth baseball participation is widespread.
- Understanding injury patterns is crucial for player safety.
- Evaluating protective equipment effectiveness requires injury data.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify common injury types and mechanisms in youth baseball.
- To assess the overall injury rates in Little League baseball.
- To inform the development and implementation of safety equipment.
Main Methods:
- A prospective, population-based injury surveillance study.
- Involved 2861 Little League players (ages 7-18) over 140,932 player-hours.
- Injuries were defined as those requiring medical care, causing missed games, or preventing play, categorized by mechanism, location, and severity.
Main Results:
- An overall injury rate of 0.057 per 100 player-hours was observed.
- Acute injuries (81%) predominated over overuse injuries (19%).
- Being hit by a ball was the most frequent cause (62% of acute injuries), particularly impacting defensive players.
Conclusions:
- Little League baseball demonstrates a low overall and severe injury rate.
- Targeting ball-impact injuries, especially for defensive players, is recommended for safety interventions.
- Facemasks can prevent offensive facial injuries but have limited impact on defensive injuries.