Health officials say about 2 million children sustain sports-related concussions each year in the U.S. While every state has laws to handle concussions in school sports, a new study out of Columbus finds that challenges remain in implementing the procedures. Mike Foley reports.
The Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children’s Hospital in Columbus identified problems in all three primary components of concussion laws: education, removal from play and return to play. The study involved interviews with 64 high school athletic trainers. Researchers found that education materials used in many schools contain complex language, lack active learning components, and were often unavailable in needed languages. As for removal from play, the study found that athletes are often unwilling to disclose concussion symptoms to stay in a game. Dr. Sean Rose, pediatric sports neurologist and co-director of the Complex Concussion Clinic, stresses that athletes, parents, and coaches need to understand the importance of immediate removal from competition for a suspected concussion and treatment by physician who specializes in concussions before returning to play following a head injury.
“Usually, a concussion resolves within three to four weeks in most kids,” Rose said. “If symptoms last longer than that, we call it post-concussion syndrome. That can be very difficult. It can be debilitating for kids. They might miss school. They might be out of their regular activities, not seeing friends. We want the athlete to be out of sports for maybe a week or two or up to a few weeks and get proper treatment, rather than continue to play and potentially get worse and be out for the rest of the season or even longer.”
Another return-to-play challenge noted in the study – the high costs and limited access for some athletes and their families to quality care and a lack of clarity which medical professionals can clear an athlete’s return to competition. Researchers say they hope the study leads policy makers to update and clarify concussion laws and administrators, athletic directors and trainers to identify the specific implementation barriers in their own schools.
The hospital provided the following additional resources for more information about concussions in young athletes:
- Hospital online guides for athletes, coaches, parents, educators, and school administrators
- CDC Heads Up Concussion online materials for parents, youth sports, school sports, school professionals, and health care providers
