A Field-expedient Arm Care Screening Tool Can Identify Musculoskeletal Risk Factors in Baseball Players

Abstract

Background:

Preseason movement screening can identify modifiable risk factors, deterioration of function, and potential for injury in baseball players. Limited resources and time prevent high school baseball coaches from performing movement screens on their players.

Hypothesis:

The arm care screen (ACS) will be highly sensitive to detecting musculoskeletal risk factors.

Study Design:

Cross-sectional.

Level of Evidence:

Level 3.

Methods:

A total of 150 baseball players were independently scored on the ACS electronically by reviewing a video recording of each player’s screening performance. Discriminability of the ACS was determined with a 2 × 2 contingency table dichotomizing musculoskeletal risk factors as present or absent based on a predetermined cutoff value and those who passed or failed the corresponding ACS subtest.

Results:

High sensitivity was observed on the reciprocal shoulder mobility (0.89; 95% CI 0.81-0.94), 90/90 total body rotation (0.86; 95% CI 0.79-0.92), and lower body diagonal reach (0.85; 95% CI 0.78-0.91) tests of the ACS suggesting sufficient ability to identify musculoskeletal impairments and risk factors.

Conclusion:

The ACS is a simplistic screening tool that the coach can administer to discriminate between youth, high school, and college-level baseball players who possess musculoskeletal risk factors. The ACS subtests demonstrated high sensitivity for correctly identifying musculoskeletal risk factors common in baseball players and can be useful as a screening tool for baseball coaches developing arm care exercise programs.

Clinical Relevance:

A field-expedient screen could provide coaches the ability to identify musculoskeletal risk factors that need to be addressed to minimize injury risk factors in a time-efficient manner.