Fitness Friday

There's a 20% Chance a Child You Know Has a Concussion

Concussion awareness has been on the rise over the past decade or so, with many high school trainers being educated on the signs and what to look for. But have we underestimated just how many children have had a concussion in the past?

Concussion awareness has been at the forefront of the media's attention for the past few years due to the diagnosis of CTE being linked to multiple concussions that people experience in sports. With more information on studies about concussions and their effect on football players being released on a regular basis, one might really be considering if the risk of long-term brain damage is worth the risk of playing certain sports. With these concerns in mind, many high school and youth sports organizations are doing as much as they can to ensure adolescents' safety when it comes to playing sports. These precautions include having trainers at games and educating the trainers and even coaching staff on proper concussion protocol. With all of these precautions, being put in place one might think that the rate of concussions are on the downturn, but how do we really know?

A review study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that 20% of teens had been diagnosed with a concussion before, and 6% stated that they had been diagnosed with multiple concussions. The study's authors looked at 13,000 questionnaire responses from a 2016 University of Michigan study that asked if children in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade had been diagnosed with a concussion before. 47% of the responders were white, 13% were black, 19% were Hispanic, and 21% reported their race as other within the study, while the gender ratio was split at around 50%. The researchers found that those who participated contact sports such as football, ice hockey, and wrestling were more likely to report more than one concussion in their lifetime, and those who were white males in a higher grade level were also more likely to report concussions. With so many concussions being reported, it is important to track whether or not changes being implemented to prevent concussions are actually working.