Ever read concussion statistics about our youngest athletes? Considering that there is not a lot of research out there on concussions in younger kids, we are going to guess that you have not.
Despite the fact that CDC data shows 3.2 million emergency room visits each year for children ages 5-14, little research has been done to study concussions in this vulnerable age group. Most research looks at high school and college sports, but that situation may be finally starting to change.
New Research on Concussions in Younger Kids
As recently reported in the online journal PLOS ONE, University of South Florida researchers conducted a two-year study of 1,500 young children (5-to-11-year-olds) playing baseball, softball, soccer and recreational football. The researchers created comprehensive reports using the same technology we employ here at Mac Alliance, from ImPACT Applications, one of our chief standards of care in concussion assessment and management.
As noted in the study’s conclusion: “To the best of our knowledge, this is the first time data have been collected and reported on sports injuries in this study population. Future studies built on these findings will allow for the development of targeted guidelines and interventions for coaches, players, and parents so sports injury-related morbidity and mortality decrease in our youngest athletes.”
The study noted injuries and what the children were doing when they got hurt. Of injuries studied, about half were concussions related to football. We do know that these children should only return to play after being cleared by a medical professional with knowledge of concussion.
Should Your Child be Tested?
MAC Alliance is thrilled to hear that this younger age group is finally being studied so that prevention strategies can be developed to help keep our children safer. Our ImPACT pediatric test is FDA-cleared for ages 5-11. The child-friendly test is objective, reliable and normally reimbursable. With ImPACT, a baseline test is taken on an iPad in less than 15 minutes and provides enough data to help assess and manage any potential concussions in this age group. We can measure multiple aspects of a child’s neuro-cognitive function like attention, reaction time, cognitive speed and immediate memory.
If you are a parent, school administrator or coach interested in more information on concussion testing in younger children, please contact one of our doctors in our growing network of mid-atlantic concussion specialists.
