Gawrys Steven P, Ward S Tanner, Reno Dillon C, Jorgensen Matthew S, Mainous Arch G, Smith Nicholas A
Department of Community Health & Family Medicine, University of Florida Health, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Department of Orthopedic Surgery and Sports Medicine, University of Florida Health, Gainesville, Florida, USA.
Orthop J Sports Med. 2025 Aug 4;13(8):23259671251353761. doi: 10.1177/23259671251353761. eCollection 2025 Aug.
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.
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.
Descriptive epidemiology study.
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.
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.
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.
与运动相关的脑震荡是青少年运动员中备受关注的公共卫生危机。意识丧失（LOC）是脑震荡特别令人担忧的后遗症，会导致有害的长期影响。
利用2014年至2023年国家电子伤害监测系统（NEISS）的数据，追踪美国4至13岁青少年运动员中意识丧失和脑震荡的发生率。
描述性流行病学研究。
输入NEISS搜索标准，筛选出2014年至2023年4至13岁儿童中所有归类于足球、篮球、棒球、垒球、足球、体操、曲棍球、摔跤和长曲棍球运动标签下的脑震荡和意识丧失病例。采用线性回归、方差分析（ANOVA）和比例检验。
在整个2014 - 2023队列（不包括2020 - 2021年）中，共有554例（占8828例的6.30%）脑震荡导致意识丧失。2014年至2023年经历意识丧失的运动员频率总体呈下降趋势，趋势线值为0.9114。足球、篮球、足球和棒球是2014年至2023年导致意识丧失的前4项运动（共9项）。方差分析单因素分析显示这些运动之间的P值为0.0069。2014年至2023年，摔跤报告的每次脑震荡意识丧失总体发生率最高，报告了24例意识丧失病例，而报告的脑震荡病例为216例（11.11%）。2014年至2023年对摔跤的比例检验分析表明，与其他运动的平均值（6.0%）相比存在统计学显著差异，P值为0.0059。
本研究结果表明，2014年至2023年美国4至13岁青少年运动员在8项运动中意识丧失发生率的总体水平有所下降。这些数据与之前显示意识丧失发生率呈指数增长的研究不同；然而，其潜在原因仍不清楚，值得进一步调查。对这些流行病学趋势背后原因的进一步调查有助于理解这些发现，并减轻青少年运动员的受伤负担。
