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Methods
Participants
For this research study, a total of 50 baseball and softball players were chosen to fill
out surveys regarding facial injuries. Out of the 50 participants, 45 surveys were completed
and returned. Of these participants, 43 were female softball players and the remaining 2 were
male baseball players. These individuals ranged in skill level of their sport from high school
to professional softball and baseball players. The range of age was 18 years old to 33 years
old with the most common age ranging from 20 to 22 years old. Of the 45 participants, a
decided to take the survey and were informed on the reason for the survey and told that their
Instrument
Before the participants took the survey, the athletes were given an adult consent form
that they had to sign to be abled to take part in the survey. The consent from allowed the
researcher the ability to use the participants answers in the survey. The consent form included
the researchers name, the title of the project, and a brief note stating the nature of the project.
This note included telling the participants of the possible risks involved with taking the
survey and that the participant would withdraw from the study. After the participant read the
consent form, they gave their name, their address, and the date then signed the form. Also,
when handed the instrument the participant was notified that was completely voluntary to
participate in the study and that their answers would be kept anonymous.
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
I acknowledge that on (____), I was informed by (Nicole Shedd) of Houston Baptist University School of
Nursing and Allied Health of a project having to do with the following: The investigation of the possible
correlation of facial injuries occurring through the different levels of play in softball. I am fully aware of the
nature and extent of my participation in this project and the possible risks involved or arising from it. I
understand that I may withdraw my participation in this project at any time without prejudice or penalty of
any kind. I hereby agree to participate in the project.
Signature: _______________________________________________________________
Address: ________________________________________________________________
Date: _____________________
* Subject should sign two copies of this form. Keep one copy and return the other to the investigator.
The instrument used in this research study was a survey that consisted of 12 questions
that dealt with facial injuries that may have occurred throughout the baseball and softball
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
players careers. The beginning of the survey asked characteristics of the participants. The
questions regarding nationality and age allowed the researcher to be able to group the
participants by shared characteristics. The participants were also grouped by their answers for
the questions regarding what is their primary sport and how they played their primary sport.
The choice for primary sport were only between softball and baseball because the research
The rest of the survey asked how they have played their sport and if/when they
received a facial injury in their career. If the participants had received facial injury in their
career, the participants were then asked when it occurred, how it happened, the time it took
them to return to play and what level of play the injury occurred. The participants could
answer these questions by writing their answer in. However, for the question regarding their
level of play, the athletes had the options of circling: recreational, high school,
professional. This question was to help the researcher to find possible correlations between
level of play and the number of facial injuries that happen. The final question of the survey
asked the participants about the facial injuries received by their teammates. This question was
for the researcher to collect more data on facial injuries outside of the individuals personal
experiences.
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
The Instrument:
The data for this research study was obtained by various methods. For this study, the
participants must have participated in either baseball or softball and at least 18 years old. The
first method used by the researcher was by contacting members of a softball team for a
private, division I university in Texas. The researcher collected 9 surveys from this softball
team. Of the 9 surveys, 2 were collected by meeting the athlete at an off-campus location
after discussing the survey with them through text messages. The next 4 were collected by
meeting the athletes on campus of the private, division I university. Each of these surveys
were given to the softball player and taken within 10 minutes. These surveys took place
One survey out of the 45 surveys was received by a post on the social media,
Facebook. The post was made by the researcher as a status update on Facebook on July 22nd.
The post requested baseball and softball players that were friends of the researcher to be apart
of the research study. If the baseball and softball player decided to take the survey, they had
to message the researcher on Facebook Messenger. The researcher would then send the
documents containing the consent form and the survey questions. The participant would send
back their consent form and their answers to the researcher through a message on Facebook
Messenger.
The next 6 surveys were given at a Bachelorette party that took place July 20 th- July
22nd. The researcher met the 6 softball players at Conan, Texas and asked them how many of
them played softball at the high school or college level. Out of the 13 females that attended the
bachelorette party, 6 females were eligible to participate in the survey. The researcher informed
the participants about the purpose of the survey, that their answers would be kept anonymous
then handed the surveys. The surveys were handed out and the participants took the survey in
a span of 10 minutes.
The most participants were drawn from a professional softball organization in Texas on
July 23rd. Out of the 30 possible participants, 19 people participated in the survey. The
researcher arrived at the playing venue for the team and distributed the surveys to the players
and the interns that have played softball players. The researcher informed the participants that
the project was on facial injuries in softball and baseball, completely voluntary, and that their
answers would be kept anonymous. The participants took the survey and returned it to the
The remaining number of surveys were completed through text messages and phone
calls directed to softball and baseball players. Out of the 45 completed surveys, 3 of the surveys
were conducted over the phone and 8 of the surveys were conducted over text messages
between the researcher and the participants. The participants were first asked if they wanted to
participate in the study the researcher was conducted. If the participant responded and
consented to being a part of the study, then the participant was sent the survey electronically if
it was over text message. If the participant had their survey conducted over the phone, the
researcher received their consent verbally and the questions of the survey were asked over the
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phone. Their answers were then written down for the participant. These surveys were taken
After all the surveys were completed and turned in, the researcher tore off the consent
forms of the surveys to keep the answers separate from the names of the participants. Once the
researcher took these steps to aid with anonymity of the results, the researcher started compiling
the data from the survey. The data was then sorted into the answers that matched the questions
in the survey. The compiling of the data took place on July 24th.
The instrument was designed to find out about the facial injuries that can occur
throughout different levels of baseball and softball. Therefore because of the chance a minor
would need to take the survey, the survey had to be worded in a way that would make sense to
a 12-year-old as well as a 30-year-old. The questions were kept simple and any possible
vocabulary that could have been difficult to understand by a younger population. Also, a
majority of the question were short answer questions to avoid confusion of their answers not
The participants were chosen through networks that the researcher was connected to.
The participants were individuals who voluntarily decided to take the survey. While the
instrument was designed for youth and baseball players, the researcher was unable to have any
participants under the age of 18 complete the survey. Therefore, the researcher chose softball
and baseball players that were at least the age of 18. The researcher designed the instrument
this way so that the participants would have a minimum of 8 years. With a minimum of 8 years,
the researcher hypothesized that the chance of a facial injury had occurred during their career
was high. This meaning the longer the athlete played, the more likely the athlete received a
facial injury. This cause and effect led the researcher to ask questions about the length of time
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
the athlete has played their sport and if they ever had a facial injury. If the participant had
received a facial injury, the rest of the survey was on the details of the facial injury. This
included how the facial injury occurred, when the facial injury occurred, and how long the
recovery time was. This was designed this way so that the researcher could find correlations
between level of play and cause of injury. Also, to find out the severity of the facial injuries
The results of the survey given to the 45 participants were classified by whether the
athlete received a facial injury during their career as a baseball or softball player or whether
they have never received a facial injury. The following results were found through the survey
Before the athletes were asked about their facial injury, the athletes shared their age
and how long they have played their sport, baseball or softball. The ages ranged from 18
years old to 33 years old. The years played of their sport ranged from 8 years to 28 years. The
years played by the athletes ranged from 8 years to 28 years. The most common years played
was 12-17 years, having played the sports for that many years were the athletes that played at
Age of Participants
9
6
# of participants
0
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35
The Age of Participants
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
Of the 45 surveys, 17 participants had received some type of facial injury during their
athletic career. The other 28 participants reported that they never received a facial injury. The
17 participants with facial injuries were then divided by the reason their facial injuries
occurred. The reasons for facial injury were contact with a teammate/opponent, contact with
the ball, and contact with equipment. Contact with equipment accounts for bats, fences,
helmets, and any other equipment in the game. Players that had multiple facial injuries, both
reasons for their injury was recorded in the research. The numbers were 5 participants had
contact with a player, 12 participants had contact with a ball, and 2 participants had contact
with equipment.
The facial injuries were then organized by what level the injury occurred. The level
options the athletes were given were recreational, high school, university/college, semi-
participants only recorded recreational, high school, college, and professional. Out of all the
levels, the college level reported the most facial injuries with 8 out of 15. While professional
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and recreational levels, reported only 3 out of 15 facial injuries. Therefore, it could be
concluded that at least half of the athletes that made to the college level have received a facial
injury.
Along with level of play and reason injury occurred, the participants were also asked
how long the athletes took to return to play. This question was a short answer question and
could be answered by any time. The answers were broken down by immediate return to play,
days, weeks, and months. Many of the athletes stated that they immediately returned to play
after their injury. So, while injuries seemed to be occurring often, most athletes could return to
play immediately without issues disrupting game play. The results were that 6 participants
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immediately returned to play, 3 participants returned after 1-3 days, 3 returned in a matter of
While the number of facial injuries that occurred was below 50%, the statistic of athletes
that have seen one of their teammates/opponents receive a facial injury was very high. Of the
45 participants that took part of the survey, 40 participants answered yes to seeing someone
receive a facial injury during their career as a softball or baseball player. Consequently, if an
athlete did not receive a facial injury during their career, there is an 89% chance of the athlete
seeing a facial injury. Therefore, making the occurrence of facial injuries a common occurrence
in softball or baseball for the athletes. If facial injuries that common in this world of sport, the
question of whether protective gear should be mandated to wear during game play or solely be
In the problem statement, it was stated that with todays technology in bat technology
and finding better ways to pitch faster and harder has caused the game of softball and baseball
to change. This shift in the game has potentially made the game more dangerous for the athletes
over time and injuries are occurring in the later in athletes careers. When one would expect
athletes would receive their injury earlier in their career due to lack of skill and knowledge of
their sport. However, according to the surveys, it was reported that most of facial injuries
occurred at the college level as seen in the Level of Play Injuries Occurred in Table. In the pie
chart, it shows that 8 out 17 athletes received a facial injury in their college career. However,
this number is skewed because of the 45 participants in the survey, only 17 athletes reported
Another notable statistic was the number of injuries that occurred because of contact
with a ball. Out of the 19 facial injuries, 12 of the facial injuries occurred by contact with the
ball. While the remaining 7 injuries were caused by contact with either equipment in the game
or teammates/opponents. Softball and baseball are projectile sports so it is assumed that more
injuries would be caused by softballs and baseballs in the field of play as proved by the results
of the survey. It would also be assumed that college athletes have received proper training to
play the game at such a high level. So why are there still facial injuries occurring at the college
level. In every sport, there is a factor of unpredictability during game play. Athletes can not
predict a bad hop, a hard hit, sunlight, or anything else that can lead to a possible facial injury
in the game. Therefore, softball and baseball players must be equipped for every situation by
being properly trained and considering the possibility of wearing a face mask to handle the
moments of unpredictability in the game. This can be tied to the Literature previously reviewed
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Softball and Baseball Related Facial Injuries and Protective Gear
in the essay where other researchers believe that giving the athletes some form of facial
In the survey, there were 28 athletes that stated they had never received a facial injury
while playing softball or baseball. However, 40 participants out of the 45 surveys stated that
they have seen a fellow teammate or an opponent receive a facial injury during game play. This
is significant because it considers that facial injuries are still happening even if they had not
happened to the people that participated in the study. So, with most athletes in this study
received their facial injury in during their college level, there is a high possibility that the facial
injuries the athletes witnessed also occurred at the same level. It also significant because if
athletes are witnessing their teammates or opponents receive a facial injury could cause the
athletes to take measures to avoid the same type of injury. While some measures like using
protective gear to avoid a facial injury benefits some athletes, the athletes that chose to avoid
situations during game play to avoid a facial injury can create negative consequences. These
negative consequences could loss of play time, receiving the injury they are trying to avoid, or
The researcher recommends that these findings can be used by parents, coaches, athletic
trainers, or any organizations deciding on whether softball and baseball players should be
mandated to wear a face mask. With the knowledge that more facial injuries occur at the higher
levels of the game, older athletes should wear mouth guards to avoid making facial injuries
become more serious. The lack of facial injuries occurring at the lower levels of the sport causes
the researcher to conclude that wearing face masks during that time might not need to be
mandated by sport organizations. But it should be a decision made by the parents and the
coaches of the softball and baseball player that know the skill level of the athletes. If the coach
or parent is concerned for their athletes, they should consider having the athlete wear a face
or softball player. If a player is still deciding to wear a face mask or trying to decide to take off
their face mask, they could take in account the results found in this essay. Younger levels can
benefit from wearing face masks because injuries do still happen. However, it is not necessary
because so many athletes in this study made it through their career at the lower levels without
receiving some form of serious facial injury. However, higher levels of the sport should
consider using protective gear due to the increase of competition and difficulty of the game
that goes along with it. A player could read the study and based off their own personal level of
play decide what would be the best option for them on whether they should wear protective
gear or not.