1. Throwing Injuries in Youth Baseball Players: Can a Prevention Program Help? A Randomized Controlled Trial.
- Author
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Sakata, Jun, Nakamura, Emi, Suzuki, Tatsuhiro, Suzukawa, Makoto, Akeda, Masaki, Yamazaki, Tetsuya, Ellenbecker, Todd S., and Hirose, Norikazu
- Subjects
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BASEBALL injuries , *CHI-squared test , *COMPARATIVE studies , *CONFIDENCE intervals , *ELBOW injuries , *POSTURAL balance , *RANGE of motion of joints , *LONGITUDINAL method , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *SHOULDER injuries , *STATISTICS , *STRETCH (Physiology) , *T-test (Statistics) , *THERAPEUTICS , *RANDOMIZED controlled trials , *TREATMENT effectiveness , *PRE-tests & post-tests , *DISEASE incidence , *THROWING (Sports) , *PHYSICAL activity , *EVALUATION of human services programs , *DATA analysis software , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *MANN Whitney U Test , *CHILDREN - Abstract
Background: Throwing injuries of the shoulder and elbow are common among youth baseball players. Hypothesis: A prevention program will reduce the incidence of throwing injuries of the shoulder and elbow by 50% among youth baseball players. Study Design: Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 1. Methods: The authors block randomized 16 youth baseball teams consisting of 237 players aged 9 to 11 years into an intervention group (8 teams, 117 players) and a control group (8 teams, 120 players). The intervention program consisted of 5 stretching, 2 dynamic mobility, and 2 balance training exercises performed during warm-up. Both groups were followed up for 12 months, during which the incidence of shoulder and elbow injuries was recorded. In addition, ball speed during pitching as a performance-related factor and variables of physical function (passive range of motion of the elbow, shoulder and hip, dynamic balance, and thoracic kyphosis angle) were assessed during the pre- and postintervention periods. Results: The incidence of shoulder and elbow injuries in the intervention group (1.7 per 1000 athlete-exposures) was significantly lower than that in the control group (3.1 per 1000 athlete-exposures) (hazard ratio, 1.940; 95% CI, 1.175-3.205; P =.010). The factors related to pitching performance, as assessed by ball speed, tended to increase in the intervention group as compared with the control group (P =.010). The program also improved shoulder horizontal adduction deficits on the dominant side, hip internal rotation on the nondominant side, and the thoracic kyphosis angle. Conclusion: A prevention program decreases throwing injuries of the shoulder and elbow and enhances the parameter of pitching performance in youth baseball players. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2019
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