Total number:The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimates that there are approximately 300,000 cases of mild traumatic brain injury (e.g. concussions) annually in the United States as a result of participation in sports.

The Sports Concussion Institute estimates that 10 percent of athletes in contact sports suffer a concussion each season.According to the CDC, during 2001-2005 children and youth ages 5-18 years accounted for 2.4 million sports-related emergency department (ED) visits annually, of which 6% (135,000) involved a concussion.For young people ages 15 to 24 years, sports are the second leading cause of traumatic brain injury behind only motor vehicle crashes.

According to a 2007 study by researchers at Ohio State and Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus, Ohio reported in the Winter 2007-2008 Journal of Athletic Training, concussions accounted for 8.9% of all injuries to high school athletes in the nine sports studied (boy’s football, soccer, basketball, wrestling and baseball and girl’s soccer, volleyball, basketball and softball), up from 5.5% reported a decade earlier.

A 2006 report estimated that there were 92,000 cases of concussions in American high school sports annually. Concussion rates are increasing in high school sports. The current rates per 100,000 player games or practices are 47 for football, 36 for girls’ soccer, 22 for boys’ soccer, and 21 for girls’ basketball.

At the high school level: A 1999 report estimated that there were 62,000 cases of concussions in American high school sports annually.

In football: At least one player sustains a mild concussion in nearly every American football game.

According to research by The New York Times, at least 50 youth football players (high school or younger) from 20 different states have died or sustained serious head injuries on the field since 1997.

Anecdotal evidence from athletic trainers suggests that only about 5% of high school players suffer a concussion each season, but formal studies surveying players suggest the number is much higher, with close to 50% saying they have experienced concussion symptoms and fully one-third reporting two or more concussions in a single season.

According to the National Center for Catastrophic Sport Injury Research, there were 10 spinal cord injuries in football in 2006; since 1977, at least 269 youth, high school, college and pro players have suffered such injuries. According to a study reported in the July 2007 issue of The American Journal of Sports Medicine:

• Football players suffer the most brain injuries of any sport


• Direct catastrophic head injuries in high school and collegiate football are uncommon but tragic events, with approximately 7 direct catastrophic football head injuries occurring per year in scholastic athletes, with the incidence higher at the high school level.


• High school football players have a far higher rate of brain injuries (concussions to massive brain trauma) than collegiate and professional players, a difference the authors characterized as “quite dramatic”


• The rate of catastrophic football head injuries for high school players is three times that of college players, primarily from second impact syndrome.


• An unacceptably high percentage (39%) of high school and collegiate football players suffering catastrophic head injuries (death, nonfatal but causing permanent neurologic functional disability, and serious injury but leaving no permanent functional disability) during the period 1989 to 2002 were still playing with neurologic symptoms at the time of the catastrophic event.

In other sports: Although football is generally recognized as the sport in which athletes are most at risk of concussions, other sports (basketball, softball, soccer, baseball, rugby and ice hockey) have moderate to high incidences of concussion.

Girls v. Boys: According to article in the Winter 2007-2008 Journal of Athletic Training

• Girls appear more susceptible to concussions in sports like soccer and basketball than boys


• Girls playing high school soccer suffer concussions 68 percent more often than boys playing the same sport


• Female concussion rates in high school basketball were almost 3 times higher


• Girls also took much longer than boys for symptoms to resolve and return to play

Multiple concussions: 16.8% of high school athletes suffering a concussion had previously suffered a sport-related concussion, either that season or in a previous season;

16.8% of high school athletes suffering a concussion had previously suffered a sport-related concussion, either that season or in a previous season;

More than 20% of concussions in boys’ and girls’ soccer and basketball were recurrent concussions.

Once an athlete has suffered an initial concussion, his or her chances of a second one are 3 to 6 times greater than an athlete who has never sustained a concussion.

A third of high school players in one recent survey reported two or more concussions in a season.

High school athletes who suffer 3 or more concussions are at increased risk of experiencing loss of consciousness (8-fold greater risk), anterograde/post-traumatic amnesia/PTA (reduced ability to form new memories after a brain injury) (5.5-fold greater risk), and confusion (5.1-fold greater risk) after a subsequent concussion.

Children who are seen in a hospital emergency room for a head injury, concussion, skull fracture or intracranial injury) are more than twice as likely to sustain a subsequent head injury of similar type within 12 months as are children seeking care for an injury not related to the head, regardless of their age.

No two concussions are alike and recovery time varies.A 2007 study found that post-concussion symptoms resolved in 3 days or less in more than 50% of the high school athletes in sports other than girls’ basketball and softball;

The same study found that more than 50% of athletes returned to play in 9 days or less;

From 30 to 80 percent of concussion patients are still symptomatic three months after being injured; about one in seven are still symptomatic after one year.

Article updated March 18, 2008

Related Articles

 Concussions: Advice For Parents Of Youth Athletes
 Treating Athletes With Concussions: No Clear Consensus
 Second-Impact Syndrome: What Is It?
 Post-Concussion Signs & Symptoms: A Checklist
 Standardized Assessment of Concussion (SAC)
 Balanced Error Scoring System (BESS)
 Managing Concussions In High School Sports: A Proposed Model

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