Concussions and other closed head impacts accounted for just 7.3 percent of all soccer-related injuries over that span, although the annual rate of concussions increased by more than 13-fold over the 25-year span of the study.
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The number of soccer-related injuries treated in hospital emergency departments in the USA each year increased by 78 percent, and the yearly rate of injuries increased by 111 percent among youth 7-17 years of age, the study found. But the researchers and sports medicine experts believe the trend also is a result of greater awareness about concussions and their potential risks.
Parents and coaches should be educated about the criteria for sending children to the emergency room, Kuluz said.
Almost 3 million players aged 7 through 17 received ER treatment for soccer-related injuries in the 2000-2014 study.
Both the number and rate of soccer-related injuries increased significantly over the study period, he said.
The researchers examined data on soccer-related injuries that were included in the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System, which is maintained by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
More kids are being sent to emergency rooms because of injuries they’re getting on the soccer field. From just under 2 per 10,000 players in 1990, the rate of injuries rose to nearly 30 per 10,000 people in 2013. More than 70 percent of those injuries were in older children, ages 12 to 17.
“Concussions can have significant consequences in terms of cognitive function and brain development”, Xiang said.
One limitation of the study is that it only included hospital data, which means authors didn’t have information about injuries treated in other settings. Studies of other youth sports have found similar increases in concussion rate beginning in the late 2000s, which is around the time when states began enacting youth-concussion laws. For girls, it’s soccer, according to an analysis of 2001-2012 data by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Sprains and strains were the most common injury among soccer players in the emergency department (34.6 percent), with fractures (23.2 percent) and soft tissue injuries (21.9 percent) rounding out the top three.
39% of players got hurt by being struck by a soccer ball or being “hit by, kicked by, stepped on, elbowed or kneed” by another player, according to the study.
Earlier this year, the U.S. Soccer organization banned kids 10 and under from hitting the ball with their heads.
Cynthia LaBella, a sports medicine specialist at Chicago’s Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital, explained the cause of concussion.
Adding to the lack of proper techniques, he notes that because of the increasing popularity of the sport, many children who lack necessary strength and conditioning for their level are the ones who suffer these injuries the most. “Make sure to follow concussion management and return-to-play policies”, he said.
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