Culture Post: Researchers Find Elementary Age Children Experience More Concussions During Activities Unrelated to Sports

The following is excerpted from an online article posted by ScienceDaily.

Researchers from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that young children between the ages of 5 and 12 were more likely to experience a concussion from recreation and other non-sport activities, yet those injuries were not seen by specialists until days later compared with sports-related concussions in the same age group.

This study suggests concussion research is needed for children outside of sports and that providing more resources and education to those providers diagnosing most concussions in this age group, particularly emergency departments and primary care, could reduce inequities in concussion care regardless of the mechanism of injury by which these patients experience concussions. The findings were recently published by the Journal of Pediatrics.

Adolescents experience high rates of sports- and recreation-related injuries, but the rate of injuries among children ages 5 through 12 is still high, at about 72.7 injuries per 1000 children. More than half of children in this age range participate in sports, as daily physical activity is recommended for optimal health and development, but with these activities comes a risk of pediatric concussion.

The study found that recreation-related injuries were the most common in this age group at 37.3% of injuries, followed by non-sports-or-recreation-related concussions at 31.9%. These injuries were more likely to be seen first in the emergency department compared to sports-related concussions. Importantly, patients with recreation- or non-sports or recreation-related concussions were first evaluated by concussion specialists an average of 2 to 3 days later than sports-related concussions. Patients with concussions outside of sports and recreation also reported worse symptoms, including more visio-vestibular issues and more changes to sleep and other daily habits compared with the other patient groups.

Source: ScienceDaily
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2024/06/240627172029.htm

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