Risk factors for shoulder and elbow pain in youth baseball players

ABSTRACTObjectives: This study sought to quantify the 1-year cumulative incidence of shoulder and elbow pain among youth baseball players and identify risk factors associated with the occurrence of shoulder and elbow pain.Methods: In total, 900 youth baseball players (aged 7–11 years) were enrolled in a 1-year prospective follow-up study. One year later, the players were asked whether they had experienced episodes of shoulder or elbow pain and the following risk factors for such pain were investigated: age, position, length of baseball experience, training hours per week, and history of shoulder or elbow pain. Data for the groups with and without shoulder or elbow pain were analyzed using multivariate logistic regression models.Results: Episodes of shoulder pain were reported by 18.3% of players and episodes of elbow pain were reported by 35.2% of players. Multivariate analysis showed that shoulder pain was associated with pitcher position, catcher position, longer training hours per week, and history of ...