{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,23]],"date-time":"2026-10-23T00:45:33Z","timestamp":1792716333330,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"National Athletic Trainers' Association","issue":"10","content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:sec><jats:title>Context<\/jats:title><jats:p>Sport specialization is thought to be a primary contributor to the throwing-related injury risk in youth baseball players.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Objective<\/jats:title><jats:p>To (1) establish arm-injury incidence in a cohort of male youth (9\u201312 years old) baseball players and (2) examine sport specialization and the frequency of arm injuries in the same cohort.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Design<\/jats:title><jats:p>Cohort study.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Setting<\/jats:title><jats:p>Greenville, South Carolina, youth baseball programs and tournaments.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Patients or Other Participants<\/jats:title><jats:p>A total of 159 asymptomatic youth baseball players (age = 11.1 \u00b1 1.1 years) were physically assessed and then were prospectively followed for 6.7 \u00b1 1.5 months.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Main Outcome Measure(s)<\/jats:title><jats:p>Athlete demographics and playing and injury histories were initially recorded. Athlete-exposures and presence of arm injury were prospectively tracked. All injuries were physically confirmed by a licensed physical therapist.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Results<\/jats:title><jats:p>Youth players demonstrated an arm-injury incidence rate of 2.22 per 1000 athlete-exposures. Parents and players underestimated sport-specialization status based on the standard research definition (self versus research based: 31% versus 83%, respectively; P = .001). The frequency of arm injuries was higher in specialized players (100%) than in nonspecialized players (80%, P = .03) but did not differ between pitchers and position players (13.2% each, P = 1.00).<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec><jats:sec><jats:title>Conclusions<\/jats:title><jats:p>Sport specialization was associated with throwing-related arm injuries in a small cohort of youth baseball players. It is concerning that 57.9% of parents and specialized players were unaware of the athletes' status. Larger studies with longer follow-up periods are needed to further evaluate injury-risk profiles in physically developing youth populations.<\/jats:p><\/jats:sec>","DOI":"10.4085\/1062-6050-349-18","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2019,10,21]],"date-time":"2019-10-21T13:05:02Z","timestamp":1571663102000},"page":"1115-1122","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":28,"title":["Sport Specialization and Increased Injury Frequency in Youth Baseball Players: A Prospective Study"],"prefix":"10.4085","volume":"54","author":[{"given":"Amanda J.","family":"Arnold","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Louisiana State University Health Science Center\u2013New Orleans"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Charles A.","family":"Thigpen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"ATI Physical Therapy, Greenville, SC"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Paul 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