The First Decade of Web-Based Sports Injury Surveillance: Descriptive Epidemiology of Injuries in US High School Boys' Baseball (2005-2006 Through 2013- 2014) and National Collegiate Athletic Association Men's Baseball (2004-2005 Through 2013-2014).

ARM injuries; SPORTS injury prevention; BASEBALL injuries; ATHLETIC ability; AVULSION fractures; COLLEGE athletes; CONFIDENCE intervals; EPIDEMIOLOGICAL research; HIGH school athletes; INTERNET; RESEARCH methodology; RESEARCH funding; STATISTICAL sampling; SHOULDER injuries; SPRAINS; TIME; WRIST injuries; SPORTS events; MALE athletes; DATA analysis software; DESCRIPTIVE statistics; ODDS ratio

Context: The advent of Web-based sports injury surveillance via programs such as the High School Reporting Information Online system and the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program has aided the acquisition of boys' and men's baseball injury data. Objective: To describe the epidemiology of injuries sustained in high school boys' baseball in the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years and collegiate men's baseball in the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years using Webbased sports injury surveillance. Design: Descriptive epidemiology study. Setting: Online injury surveillance from baseball teams in high school boys (annual average= 100) and collegiate men (annual average= 34). Patients or Other Participants: Boys' or men's baseball players who participated in practices and competitions during the 2005-2006 through 2013-2014 academic years in high school or the 2004-2005 through 2013-2014 academic years in college, respectively. Main Outcome Measure(s): Athletic trainers collected timeloss injury and exposure data. Injury rates per 1000 athleteexposures (AEs) were calculated. Injury rate ratios (IRRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) compared injury rates by school size or division, time in season, event type, and competition level. Results: The High School Reporting Information Online system documented 1537 time-loss injuries during 1 573 257 AEs; the National Collegiate Athletic Association Injury Surveillance Program documented 2574 time-loss injuries during 804 737 AEs. The injury rate was higher in college than in high school (3.20 versus 0.98/1000 AEs; IRR=3.27; 95% CI=3.07, 3.49). The competition injury rate was higher than the practice injury rate in high school (IRR= 2.27; 95% CI= 2.05, 2.51) and college (IRR= 2.32; 95% CI= 2.15, 2.51). Baseball players at the high school and collegiate levels sustained a variety of injuries across the body, with the most common injuries reported to the upper extremity. Many injuries also occurred while fielding or pitching. Conclusions: Injury rates were greater in collegiate versus high school baseball and in competition versus practice. These findings highlight the need for injury-prevention interventions focused on reducing the incidence of upper extremity injuries and protecting batters from pitches and fielders from batted balls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Athletic Training (Allen Press) is the property of KnowledgeWorks Global, Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)