ArticleSports health
Early Sport Specialization and Long-term Throwing Arm Health in College Baseball Players.
Article in Sports health. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.
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.
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Who cites it
4 citing papers in PubMed, 5 citations in OpenAlex.
- Clinical Utility of the Japanese Version of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Shoulder and Elbow Score for Detecting Upper Extremity Dysfunction in High-School Baseball Players.International journal of sports physical therapy · 2026Article
- Cross-Cultural Adaptation, Validity and Reliability of the European Portuguese Version of the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Shoulder & Elbow Score (KJOC).Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Early Sport Specialization in a Pediatric Population: A Rapid Review of Injury, Function, Performance, and Psychological Outcomes.Clinics and practice · 2025Review
- Arm Health in Elite Collegiate Summer League Baseball Players Assessed by the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic Score.Journal of athletic training · 2024Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 5 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundEarly sport specialization is associated with increased risk of overuse injuries in several sports, including baseball. However, limited evidence exists evaluating how early sport specialization affects patient-reported outcome measures as they age. The purpose of this study was to determine differences in Kerlan-Jobe Orthopedic Clinic (KJOC) Shoulder and Elbow Scores among collegiate baseball players based on the grade when a participant first reported high specialization behaviors. HYPOTHESIS: Baseball players who were highly specialized at a younger age will have worse throwing arm health while participating in college. STUDY
designCross-sectional study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3.
methodsA total of 752 college baseball players was contacted through their institution's athletic trainer. We measured baseball specialization and KJOC scores using the validated Baseball and Sport Experience survey. Data were summarized using means and SDs, medians and interquartile ranges (IQRs), and frequencies and percentages. A Kruskal-Wallis test was used to determine differences in mean KJOC scale scores based on the earliest time the participant reported high-level specialization.
resultsA total of 294 baseball players completed the survey (response rate: 39.1%). Of the 294 participants, 280 completed the KJOC scale questions to generate a total KJOC score (median: 90.5; IQR: 76.6-97.2). No significant differences in KJOC total scores (
conclusionEarly baseball specialization as a youth baseball player may not impact throwing arm health in college baseball athletes. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Early specialization has been linked to increased risk for overuse injuries in certain sports, but may not lead to poorer throwing arm health in college baseball players. Sports medicine clinicians and researchers may use this information to educate various stakeholders about the benefits and risks associated with early sport specialization.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.