Dr. Erik Nelson and a team of researchers looked at the rate of injuries that happen in youth baseball across different socioeconomic levels. This research was published in the Journal of Athletic Training by the National Athletic Training Association.
Nelson is a public health professor at Brigham Young University whose work focuses on social epidemiology. He uses statistical analysis to uncover systemic challenges in public health and develops solutions aimed at improving health and safety outcomes.
This line of research began when a graduate student approached him to assist with a small study on baseball injury rates in high schools.
As the project expanded, a multidisciplinary research team was formed to examine the differences in injuries among high school student-athletes living in different communities. The team specifically wanted to know if discrepancies in injury rates were influenced by the average wealth and financial support of their communities and schools.
The team, including Alison Valier and Nelson at A.T. Still University, conducted a secondary data analysis from the National Athletic Treatment, Injury and Outcomes Network Surveillance Program that spanned from the 2014-15 to 2018-19 academic years.
The team calculated a surrogate measure for poverty and social deprivation known as “concentrated disadvantage,” a metric the team would use to study the different levels of poverty for each school and surrounding community.
Their findings showed that schools with less financial investment and oversight, especially those with baseball teams in the 1A and 2A divisions, experience higher rates of injuries. One explanation they posited was a lack of athletic trainers on staff to prevent and assess injuries during practices and competitive events.
Nelson said, “I think [employing more athletic trainers] is not even a huge [financial] investment. If [schools] can just have enough money to have an athletic trainer on site, they’re more likely to prevent injury because they can be there to help them stretch and do the things they need to do beforehand.”
Having athletic trainers on hand to oversee student-athletes provides essential benefits to the health of young baseball players. Injury and the lack of proper diagnosis pose the greatest risks to players and their future careers. Having just one athletic trainer on staff can be the difference between a child having lifelong injuries or being able to healthily compete in youth sports.
When injuries are ignored or go undiagnosed, time that could have been used for recovery is lost. This can lead to longer rehabilitation and, in severe cases, permanent damage to the players for the rest of their lives. Quick and correct diagnoses by athletic trainers lead to faster recovery and help maintain the safety of the sport while also benefiting future careers by allowing them to miss fewer games.
This trailblazing academic paper was published by the National Athletic Trainers’ Association in the Journal of Athletic Training. Drs. Erik Nelson and Alison Valier presented their findings as guests featured on a NATA panel that offered guidance to coaches and teams on implementing injury prevention strategies with baseball professionals all around the world.
Through this work, Nelson and his team demonstrated how public health research continues to make communities and sports safer and healthier, powered by data analysis.
“They’re more likely to prevent injury, and then when they get hurt, they’re able to immediately address the trauma and minimize what happens later,” Nelson said. “It’s these schools that don’t have athletic trainers and people on site where the kid gets hurt and prolong injuries, that’s when the problems get worse.”
Nelson and his team believe that addressing the need for athletic trainers in youth sports, such as baseball, at a systemic level could significantly reduce injury rates.
Requiring every school to have at least one athletic trainer on staff, and providing funding to make it possible, would be a simple change that would drastically help reduce the injury rate of children in baseball.
“I love that about public health,” Nelson said. “There’s always a simple answer for what others usually see as a really complex problem.”
By conducting this research, Nelson and his team have shown how public health efforts, backed by data and analysis, play a critical role in creating safer conditions for youth athletes and public health across the country.