Girls' basketball and boys' wrestling were named as sports with risk of head injuries in a study about head concussions among US high school athletes. — sxc.hu pic
The findings, published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine, come at a time of increasing concern about concussions in young athletes in the United States.
Between 2008 and 2010, US high school athletes suffered them at a rate of 2.5 for every 10,000 times they hit the playing field, whether for practice or competition, and the ranges of sports involved was broad, researchers said.
“They’re not just occurring in full-contact sports,” said lead researcher Natalie McIlvain, at the Research Institute at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.
Nearly half, some 47 per cent, happened in football. But girls’ soccer and basketball, and boys’ wrestling, ice hockey and lacrosse, were among the others with a risk of head injury.
Just over eight per cent of all concussions happened in girls’ football, while girls’ basketball and boys’ wrestling accounted for almost six per cent each.
Boys’ ice hockey accounted for fewer total concussions, but it beat all other sports when it came to proportion. Of all injuries to boys in ice hockey, 22 per cent were concussions.
Most of the head injuries happened when players collided with each other, but even some children in non-contact sports, such as softball, gymnastics, cheerleading and swimming, suffered blows to the head.
Among the findings was a higher concussion risk among girls than boys, the researchers said — with girls having a 70 per cent higher concussion rate than boys in “gender-comparable” sports.
It’s not clear why, but it may have to do with lesser neck strength among girls, said Christy Collins, a senior research associate at Nationwide Children’s Hospital.
Concussions happen when an impact is strong enough to jar the brain within the skull, and it’s thought that greater neck strength might offer some protection.
Estimates of the number of sports-related concussions in the United States have been climbing in recent years.
That’s partly because more people are playing contact sports, young athletes are training more aggressively at an earlier age, and doctors are more aggressive about diagnosing concussions.
“It’s very important for kids to be involved in sports. But at the same time we have to keep them safe,” Collins said.
That involves knowing the risk and symptoms of concussion and making sure patients with the condition rest both physically and mentally. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) last year also recommended that a doctor clear patients before they can return to the playing field.
If an athlete suffers another head injury before the initial concussion has healed, there’s a risk of “second-impact syndrome,” which can have severe consequences such as bleeding inside the skull.
“The real danger is returning to play too soon,” Collins said. SOURCE: http://bit.ly/z2ITzw. — Reuters
