Abstract
CONTEXT: Fastpitch softball is one of the most popular sports in the United States among young female athletes. Softball players regularly subject their shoulders to extreme range of motion and high velocity movements. To date, no systematic review has reported on the epidemiology and incidence of shoulder injuries in softball players. OBJECTIVE: To describe the incidence and epidemiology of softball-related shoulder injuries in youth, high school, and collegiate female softball players. DATA SOURCES: PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase were searched for relevant English language articles from 1980 to 2023. STUDY SELECTION: Studies selected based on predefined inclusion criteria. Studies were required to be available full text, in English. STUDY DESIGN: Systematic review. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 4. DATA EXTRACTION: A preliminary screening was performed based on study title and abstract. In the subsequent screening, the full text versions of the remaining articles were evaluated by 2 reviewers for the fulfillment of the inclusion criteria. RESULTS: A total of 7 articles met criteria for inclusion. All studies evaluated injuries among softball players for at least 1 season. In total, there were 1107 softball-related shoulder injuries reported in the 7 studies included in this systematic review. Of the 3 studies that included a shoulder injury rate, a mean rate of 4.01 shoulder injuries per 10,000 athlete-exposures was calculated. The 2 most common shoulder injuries were shoulder muscle-tendon strains (297) and shoulder/biceps tendinitis (220). CONCLUSION: High-level prospective studies reporting injury incidence and risk factors among female softball players are extremely limited. Only 2 studies eligible for inclusion in this systematic review were prospective in nature, with neither of these reporting the specific injury rate for shoulder injuries among softball players.