228285 Trends In Sports-related Concussion Incidence At The High School Level, 1997-2008

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 8:30 AM - 8:50 AM

Andrew E. Lincoln, ScD, MS , Union Memorial Hospital, Sports Medicine Research Center, Baltimore, MD
Shane Caswell, PhD, VATL, ATC , Sports Medicine Assessment, Research and Testing Laboratory, George Mason University, Manassas, VA
Jon L. Almquist, ATC , Athletic Training Program, Fairfax County Public Schools, Falls Church, VA
Reginald Dunn , Sports Health Research Center, Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD
Joseph Norris, MD , Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD
Richard Y. Hinton, MD, MPH , Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Union Memorial Hospital, Baltimore, MD
  
Background: Awareness of health risk from concussion warrants investigation of sport-related concussion risk in a wide variety of scholastic sports. Objective: To examine the incidence and relative risk of concussion in twelve high school boys' and girls' sports between 1997 and 2008. Study design: Prospective cohort study Methods: Data were prospectively gathered for all 25 schools in a large public high school system. A certified athletic trainer was on site for all games and practices and electronically recorded all injuries daily. Results: We observed 2479 concussions in 10,926,892 athletic exposures, incidence rate, 0.23 cases per 1000 athletic exposures. Boys' sports accounted for 75% of all concussions. Football accounted for more than half of all concussions and had the highest incidence rate (.56). Girls' soccer had the most concussions among girls and the second-highest incidence rate of all 12 sports (.32). Concussion rate increased 4.6-fold overall (16.5% annual increase). In nearly identical sports, girls had roughly twice the concussion risk of boys. Concussion incidence increased over time in all 12 sports. Conclusions: Although the full-contact sports of football and boys' lacrosse had the highest number of concussions and football had the highest concussion rate, concussion occurred in all other sports and was observed in girls' sports at rates similar to or higher than those of boys sports. Concussion incidence increased in all 12 sports over time. Concussion detection, treatment, and prevention should not be limited to those sports traditionally associated with concussion risk.

Learning Objectives:
1) To determine cumulative incidence rates of concussion in twelve high school boys’ and girls’ sports over an 11-year period (1997 to 2008). 2) To identify the boys’ and girls’ sports with the highest relative risk of concussion. 3) To evaluate the relative risk of concussion by sex among sports for which the game is nearly identical. 4) To assess the rate of annual change in scholastic sport concussion overall and by sex.

Keywords: Injury, Children and Adolescents

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I am qualified to be an abstract Author on the content I am responsible for because I oversee programs such as sports injury prevention.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 3041.0: Recreational injuries in at-risk populations