@article{ref1,
title="Sports specialization and sports-related injuries in Japanese school-aged children and adolescents: a retrospective descriptive study",
journal="International journal of environmental research and public health",
year="2021",
author="Shigematsu, Ryosuke and Katoh, Shuta and Suzuki, Koya and Nakata, Yoshio and Sasai, Hiroyuki",
volume="18",
number="14",
pages="e7369-e7369",
abstract="Although early sports specialization is associated with sports-related injuries, relevant quantitative studies on young non-elite athletes, the majority of sports participants, are scarce. We described sports specialization time points and the characteristics of sports-related injuries. Undergraduate students at a university in Japan (n = 830) recalled their history of sports participation from elementary to high school and sports-related injuries in a self-administered questionnaire. Of 570 valid respondents, 486 (85%) engaged in sports at least once. Significantly more respondents played multiple sports in upper elementary school (30%) than in other school categories (1-23%). In junior high and high schools, 90% and 99% played only one sport, respectively. Of the 486 respondents who played sports, 263 (54%) had experienced acute or overuse injuries. The proportion of injured participants significantly differed by school category: lower elementary school (4%), upper elementary school (21%), junior high (35%), and high school (41%). The proportions of acute or overuse injuries in males were higher than those in females. In conclusion, this study clarified a slight variation in sports items, particularly in junior high and high schools, which demonstrates 13 years as the age of beginning specialization in a single sport. More than half of the non-elite athletes experienced sports-related injuries. Injuries were frequently observed in males and those in junior high and high schools.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="1661-7827",
doi="10.3390/ijerph18147369",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18147369"
}