Youth Ages 4 to 13 Trends of Sports Concussions With Loss of Consciousness From 2014-2023 National Electronic Injury Surveillance System.

BACKGROUND

Sports-related concussions are a public health crisis of serious concern among youth athletes. Loss of consciousness (LOC) is a particularly concerning sequela of concussions, causing detrimental long-term effects.

PURPOSE

To utilize National Electronic Injury Surveillance System (NEISS) data from 2014 to 2023 to track the incidence of LOC and concussions in youth athletes ages 4 to 13 years in the United States.

STUDY DESIGN

Descriptive epidemiology study.

METHODS

NEISS search criteria were entered filtering all concussions and LOC in children ages 4 to 13 years from the years 2014 to 2023 who were filed under the sport tags of football, basketball, baseball, softball, soccer, gymnastics, hockey, wrestling, and lacrosse. Linear regression, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and proportion tests were utilized.

RESULTS

In total, 554 (6.30% of 8828) concussions resulted in LOC in the entire 2014-2023 cohort (excluding 2020-2021). The frequency of players experiencing LOC from 2014 to 2023 showed an overall downward trend, with a trendline value of 0.9114. Football, basketball, soccer, and baseball were the top 4 LOC-producing sports (n = 9) from 2014 to 2023. ANOVA single-factor analysis produced a value of .0069 between the sports. Wrestling reported the highest overall rate of LOC per concussion from 2014 to 2023, with 24 reported incidences of LOC compared with 216 reported concussions (11.11%). Proportion test analysis of wrestling indicated a statistically significant difference from the mean of the other sports (6.0%) through the years 2014-2023 with a value of .0059.

CONCLUSION

The results of this study show a decrease in the overall level of LOC incidence in US youth athletes ages 4 to 13 years from 2014 to 2023 across 8 sports. The data delineate from previous studies that show an exponential increase in LOC incidence; however, the underlying reasons are still unclear and warrant further investigation. Further investigation into the reasoning behind these epidemiological trends could help build an understanding of these findings and reduce the injury burden on youth athletes.