Evidence map›Paper›PMID 37020443›Full record

ArticleInternational journal of sports physical therapy2023

Elbow Injuries Among MLB Pitchers Increased During Covid-19 Disrupted Season, But Not Other Baseball Injuries.

Chelsea Martin, Jozef Palasiewicz, Jesse Grullon, Ellen Shanley, Charles Thigpen, Daniel Kline, Stefan Kluzek, Gary Collins, Garrett Bullock

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in International journal of sports physical therapy, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

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.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed.

  1. Article
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

9 authors.

Chelsea MartinGillings School of Global Public Heath, Department of Epidemiology UNC Chapel Hill.
Jozef PalasiewiczATI Physical Therapy.
Jesse GrullonATI Physical Therapy.
Ellen ShanleyATI Physical Therapy.
Charles ThigpenATI Physical Therapy.
Daniel KlineATI Physical Therapy.
Stefan KluzekNuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Sciences University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom.
Gary CollinsCentre for Statistics in Medicine, Nuffield Department of Orthopaedics, Rheumatology, and Musculoskeletal Sciences University of Oxford, Oxford UK.
Garrett BullockDepartment of Orthopaedic Surgery Wake Forest School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Background: The 2020 Major League Baseball Season (MLB) demonstrated season disruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in training and seasonal time frames may be associated with higher rates of injury. Purpose: To use publicly available data to compare injury rates during the 2015-2019 seasons, COVID-19 shortened season (2020), and the 2021 season stratified by body region and position (pitchers versus position players). Study Design: A retrospective cohort study utilizing publicly available data. Methods: MLB players who competed in 1+ seasons between 2015-2021 were included and stratified by position (pitcher, position player). Incidence rate (IR), reported by 1000 x Athlete-Game Exposures (AGEs), was calculated for each season, and stratified by position and body region. Poisson regressions were performed for all injuries and stratified by position to determine association between season and injury incidence. Subgroup analyses were performed on the elbow, groin/hip/thigh, shoulder. Results: Four thousand, two hundred and seventy-four injuries and 796,502 AGEs across 15,152 players were documented. Overall IR was similar across seasons (2015-2019:5.39; 2020:5.85; 2021:5.04 per 1000 AGEs). IR remained high for the groin/hip/thigh for position players (2015-2019:1.7; 2020:2.0; 2021:1.7 per 1000 AGEs). There was no difference in injury rates between 2015-2019 and 2020 seasons [1.1 (0.9-1.2), p=0.310]. The 2020 season demonstrated a significant increase in elbow injuries [2.7 (1.8-4.0), p<0.001]; when stratified by position, this increase remained significant for pitchers [pitchers: 3.5 (2.1-5.9), p<0.001; position players: 1.8 (0.9-3.6), p=0.073]. No other differences were observed. Conclusion: The groin/hip/thigh demonstrated the highest IR in 2020 among position players across all season time frames, indicating that continued injury mitigation for this region is necessary. When stratified by body region, elbow injury rates among pitchers demonstrated 3.5 times the rate of injury in 2020 compared to previous seasons, impacting injury burden for the most vulnerable body region among pitchers. Level of Evidence: Level III.

Indexed as

Elbow InjuriesInjury SurveillanceProfessional Baseball

Identifiers

PMID37020443
PMCPMC10069388

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

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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.