Descriptive Report of Injuries Sustained by Secondary School Baseball Players Categorized by Community-Level Socioeconomic Status

Document Type

Article

Publication Title

Journal of Athletic Training

Abstract

Context: Baseball is a popular sport in the United States, with widespread play among secondary school student-athletes. Baseball-related injuries may vary based on community-level socioeconomic status of schools. Objective: To describe the injuries sustained by secondary school baseball players from schools categorized by communitylevel socioeconomic status. Design: Cross-sectional study. Setting: Data (2014-2015 through 2018-2019 academic years) were obtained from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program. Patients or Other Participants: Secondary school baseball athletes. Main Outcome Measure(s): Frequencies and percentages of injuries, injury rates (IRs), and competition or practice IR ratios were reported by the community-level socioeconomic status (ie, affluent, average wealth, disadvantaged wealth) where each school is located. Results: The National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program captured 320 baseball injuries across 140 619 total athlete-exposures (AEs), for an overall IR of 2.4/1000 AEs. Of those, 52% occurred among athletes in 24 schools situated in affluent communities, 15.6% occurred in 12 schools from average-wealth communities, and 32.5% occurred in 12 schools located in disadvantaged-wealth communities. The largest IR was schools located in disadvantaged-wealth communities (3.3/1000 AE), followed by affluent (2.3/1000 AE) and average-wealth (1.4/1000 AE) communities. On average, schools from affluent and disadvantaged-wealth communities had higher IRs during competition than during practice (affluent: IR ratio = 1.5, 95% confidence interval = 1.11, 2.05; disadvantaged: IR ratio = 1.6, 95% confidence interval = 1.12, 2.41). Frequencies of many injury characteristics were consistent in schools across community-level socioeconomic status with contact, sprain or strain, and non-time-loss ranking highest in terms of injury mechanism, diagnosis, and time loss, respectively. Shoulder or clavicle was the most frequent body part injured in schools in average and disadvantaged-wealth communities, and the ankle was most frequently injured in schools in affluent communities. Conclusions: Baseball athletes playing in schools located in disadvantaged-wealth communities had the largest overall IR, followed by schools in affluent and average-wealth communities. Across most injury characteristics, a consistent trend emerged regardless of community-level socioeconomic status, with the highest baseball IRs resulting from contact mechanisms, diagnosed as sprains or strains, and classified as non-time-loss injuries. While many injury patterns are consistent across socioeconomic communities, examining injuries through the lens of community levels of disadvantage provides insight into subtle differences that could inform targeted prevention strategies or resource needs.

First Page

541

Last Page

547

DOI

10.4085/1062-6050-0305.23

Publication Date

7-1-2025

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