The number of children injured playing baseball and who needed to be treated in emergency departments in the U.S. declined by about 30 percent over 13 years, researchers report.

“Youth baseball is a relatively safe sport,” Dr. Gary A. Smith, at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio told Reuters Health.

Among children and teens younger than 18 years of age, about 2.2 baseball-related injuries occurred per 1000 children in 1994, but by 2006 this rate declined to 1.5 per 1000, Smith and his colleagues report in the journal Pediatrics.

Even so, greater use of safety equipment could make baseball an even safer sport for children, they note.

Using data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, Smith’s team studied the details on 43,000 baseball-related injuries among children younger than 18 years of age who were treated at emergency departments between 1994 and 2006. “These injuries,” they explain, “represent an estimated 1,596,000 baseball-related injuries treated in EDs nationally.”

On average, injured children were about 12 years old, and 83 percent were boys.

Being hit by a baseball accounted for 46 percent of the injuries, while being hit by a bat and sliding accounted for 25 and 10 percent, respectively.

The most commonly injured body parts were the face (36 percent) and upper extremities (32 percent).

The vast majority of injured children (98 percent) were treated and released. Of the injuries requiring hospital admission, most were fractures and concussions or closed head injuries. During the study period, the investigators identified three baseball-related fatalities.

Despite the overall decline in baseball-related injuries among young athletes, the investigators say there are opportunities to make the sport even safer.

“Safety equipment, such as age-appropriate break-away bases, helmets with face shields, reduced-impact safety baseballs, and especially mouth guards, should be more widely used in youth baseball,” Smith said.

SOURCE: Pediatrics, June 2009