Incidence of Sports-Related Concussion among Youth Football Players Aged 8-12 Years

Incidence of Concussion in Youth Ice Hockey Players

“…The concussion IR of 1.58/1000 exposures in our sample of youth ice hockey players aged 12 to 18 years was comparable to rates reported for other youth sports. 8,10,[13][14][15] In fact, in a recent study of youth football players, researchers reported a total concussion IR of 1.76/1000 exposures, 10 which is similar to the rate reported in the current study. In the current study, players had nearly 3 times more concussions per exposure in games compared with practices.…”

“…This finding is in contrast to research in other youth sports, such as football, which reported higher concussion IRs in 11-to 12-yearolds compared with 8-to 10-yearolds. 10 In their study examining concussions in youth football, Kontos and colleagues 10 concluded that the increase IR in older athletes could be attributed to those athletes being bigger, faster, and stronger and engaging in more tackling than their younger counterparts. The overlap in age groups with higher concussion IRs in these 2 studies suggests that concussion risk may increase from childhood to early adolescence (age 12-14 years) and then drop off again in later adolescence.…”

“…5 In the same study, we reported that concussion IRs in older (11-12 years) players were 2.72 times higher than for younger (8-10 years) players. 10 It is likely that similar findings would be supported among youth ice hockey players. The primary purpose of this study was to prospectively examine concussion IRs in a multisite cohort of male and female youth ice hockey players aged 12 to 18 years across a competitive season, and to compare IRs in games and practices, and between younger (12)(13)(14) and older (15)(16)(17)(18) players.…”

Update on the Epidemiology of Concussion/Mild Traumatic Brain Injury

“…While there is a strong relationship between the type of sport and risk of concussion [28], the level of competition (e.g., high school, collegiate, and professional) appears less important. Even among 8-to 12-year olds, a concussion incidence rate of 6.16 per 1000 AE during games and 0.24/1000 AE during practice has been observed; this was reported to be comparable to rates of concussion in high school and college football players [47]. Similarly, among hockey players at professional or collegiate levels, the concussion rates are estimated to range from 0.72/1000 to 1.81/1000 AE [48].…”

Editorial: Orthopaedic Surgeons Should Recommend That Children and Young Adults Not Play Tackle Football

“…Decreasing contact in practice-an approach garnering some attention of late [3,21]-does not seem adequate; indeed, one well-designed study suggested it may actually increase the risk of concussions in games [16] since tackling technique matters, and it must be taught and learned. In any case, concussion risk appears higher in games than practices [9].…”