More youngsters suffer concussions from sports
Share with others:
The number of children going to the emergency room for concussions they suffered while playing competitive sports has more than doubled in recent years, which some say may be due in part to a growing awareness of the brain injury.
A study published Monday in the journal Pediatrics found that, although most of the increase in hospital visits came from high school athletes, 40 percent of sports-related pediatric concussion patients seen in the ERs were between the ages of 8 and 13. The study was conducted by four physicians affiliated with the Brown University Medical School.
The findings prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue an updated clinical report about concussion care in children and adolescents. A concussion is caused by a blow to the head or upper body that causes the brain to shake inside the skull. Symptoms may include disorientation, confusion, dizziness, amnesia and uncoordinated hand-eye movements.
 Â
The report emphasized that the brains of children are more susceptible to injury, and that concussions in children tend to be more damaging and take longer to heal than do concussions in teenagers or adults. In addition to rest, treatment calls for a break from sports until symptoms are gone.
According to the study, 502,000 children in the U.S. made visits to the emergency room for treatment for concussion from 2001 to 2005. Half were related to sports.
Although participation in organized team sports declined between 1997 and 2007, the number of emergency room visits for concussions by 8- to 13-year-olds doubled, the study said.
Moira Davenport of Allegheny General Hospital, who is board certified in emergency medicine and sports medicine, said there are two reasons to doubt the surge in sports-related concussions has been as great as these data make it appear.
The first is that because people are more aware of the symptoms of concussions and the harm they can cause, concussions are more likely to be reported today than they were in years past, Dr. Davenport said.
"The number of visits is increasing, but part of that is because of greater awareness," she said. "There is definitely a trickle-down effect."
The second is that the definition of a concussion is broadening.
"It used to be that you had to have a loss of consciousness to be considered a concussion," Dr. Davenport said. "Now it is any time you sustain a direct blow to the head, or an indirect transmission of force to the head."
Jerry McFarland, the head athletic trainer for the Moon Area School District, said the district had an increase in concussions among student athletes in the past few years. But, he added, "that might come from better recognition."
First Published August 31, 2010 12:00 am
