ArticleInternational journal of sports physical therapy2021
Sport Specialization, Physical Performance and Injury History in Canadian Junior High School Students.
Article in International journal of sports physical therapy, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 2 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
2 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Early Sport Specialization in a Pediatric Population: A Rapid Review of Injury, Function, Performance, and Psychological Outcomes.Clinics and practice · 2025Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundYouth sports participation is encouraged for proposed physical and psychological benefits. However early sport specialization and the potentially negative consequences may be a cause for concern. PURPOSE: To describe sport specialization in Canadian youth and investigate associations with previous injury and physical performance. STUDY
designCross-sectional study.
methodsJunior high school students (grades 7-9, ages 11-16) were invited to participate. All participants completed a questionnaire capturing specialization level (low, moderate, high; based on year-round training, exclusion of other sports, and single-sport training) and injury history in the previous 12-months. Additionally, all participants completed physical performance measures including vertical jump (cm), predicted VO2max (mL/kg/min), single-leg balance (secs) and Y-Balance composite score (%). Logistic regression examined the association between school grade, school size, sex and sport specialization (Objective 1) and the association between sport specialization and injury history (Objective 2). Multivariable linear regression analyses (4) assessed associations between sport specialization category and physical performance measures (Objective 3).
resultsTwo hundred and thirty-eight students participated in the study. Eighteen percent of participants reported high specialization, with no significant associations between sex, grade or school size and specialization category. There was no significant difference in the odds of sustaining previous injury between participants reporting moderate (odds ratio [OR]=1.94, 95% CI 0.86-4.35) or high (OR=2.21, 95% CI 0.43-11.37) compared to low specialization. There were no significant differences in vertical jump height (mean diff [MD] = -0.4 to 2.1cm), predicted VO2max (MD = 2.2 to 3.1mL/kg/min), single leg balance (MD = 0.5 to 1.9sec) or Y-balance (MD = 0.6 to 7.0%) between sport specialization categories.
conclusionsSport specialization exists in Canadian junior high schools but may be less common than previously reported and it was not associated with sex, grade, or school size. Level of specialization was not associated with history of injury nor a range of physical performance measures. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.
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Registered trials
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