Patterns of Shoulder Injuries Vary in High School Sports
About 8 percent of shoulder injuries in high school athletes require surgical repair
MONDAY, Jan. 13, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- Rates and patterns of shoulder injuries vary by sport and gender in high school athletes, according to research published online Jan. 13 in Pediatrics.
T. Walker Robinson, M.D., M.P.H., of Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio, and colleagues analyzed data for shoulder injuries in nine sports from a nationally representative sample of U.S. high schools during the academic years from 2005 through 2012. For boys, the sports included baseball, basketball, football, soccer, and wrestling; for girls, they included basketball, soccer, softball, and volleyball.
The researchers found a shoulder injury rate of 2.15 injuries per 10,000 high school athlete exposures (AEs). Injury rates were higher during competition than in practice (rate ratio, 3.17). Rates of shoulder injury per 10,000 AEs were highest in boys' football (4.86) and lowest in girls' soccer (0.42). The most common types of shoulder injuries were strain/sprain (37.9 percent) and dislocation/separation (29.2 percent). Surgical repair was necessary for 7.9 percent of the injuries. Among high school athletes with shoulder injuries, 40.7 percent returned to competition within one week, and 8.2 percent were medically disqualified for the remainder of the season or their career.
"Prospective epidemiologic surveillance is warranted to discern trends and patterns to develop evidence-based interventions to prevent shoulder injuries," the authors write.
The study was funded in part by DonJoy Orthotics and EyeBlack.
Abstract (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/01/07/peds.2013-2279.abstract )Full Text (subscription or payment may be required) (http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2014/01/07/peds.2013-2279.full.pdf+html )