Adolescent health brief
Lifetime Prevalence of Self-Reported Concussion Among Adolescents Involved in Competitive Sports: A National U.S. Study

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ABSTRACT

Purpose

Examine lifetime prevalence of diagnosed concussion in US-national samples of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders involved in 16 different competitive sports; examine associations between concussion and individual sports, controlling for demographic characteristics and multiple sports involvement.

Methods

Analysis of nationally representative Monitoring the Future data from 2 cohorts (2016–2017; n = 25,408).

Results

Adolescents who participated in baseball, basketball, football, gymnastics, ice hockey, lacrosse, soccer, track, weightlifting, and ‘other sports’ had greater odds of reporting multiple diagnosed concussions compared with peers not participating in these sports. Adolescents who participated in tennis had lower odds of reporting any diagnosed concussion or multiple concussions. Females who participated in gymnastics, soccer, and swimming showed a stronger association in reporting a diagnosed concussion when compared with males who participated in these same types of sports.

Conclusions

The study provides needed epidemiological information on prevalence of reported diagnosed concussion among teens participating in popular school and community sports. Certain high contact (e.g., football) and high volume (e.g., basketball) sports need increased efforts to manage adolescent athletes who already have a history of concussion or repeated concussions.

Section snippets

Study design

The Monitoring the Future (MTF) study annually surveys a cross-sectional, nationally representative sample of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders in approximately 400 public and private schools in the coterminous United States, using self-administered paper-pencil questionnaires in classrooms. The MTF study uses a multi–stage sampling procedure. In stage 1, geographic areas or primary sampling units are selected; in stage 2, schools within primary sampling units are selected (with probability

Results

Table 1 shows that 18.4% of the sample indicated at least one diagnosed concussion during their lifetime (athletes–20.8%, non-athletes–11.2%); 13.4% indicated only one diagnosed concussion (athletes–14.9%, non-athletes–8.9%) while 5.0% indicated multiple diagnosed concussions (athletes–5.8%, non-athletes–2.2%).

Table 2 shows that participation in 11 of 16 sports was modestly associated with increased odds of any lifetime diagnosed concussion. Participation in baseball, football, weightlifting,

Discussion

This study provides needed epidemiological information on the lifetime prevalence of diagnosed concussion across 16 popular sports in the U.S. In particular, when controlling for sociodemographic factors and participation in multiple sports, participation in the majority of the sports assessed was associated with greater odds of indicating at least one diagnosed concussion. Participation in football and ice hockey showed the strongest association with any lifetime diagnosed concussion and

Funding Sources

The development of this article was supported by research grants L40DA042452, K23HD078502, and R01DA001411 from the National Institutes of Health. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.

Financial Disclosure

The authors have no financial relationships relevant to this article to disclose.

Author's Contributions

Philip T. Veliz: Dr. Veliz conceptualized the study and discussed the study design with all co-authors.

Dr. Veliz interpreted the data, drafted the initial manuscript and all subsequent drafts of the manuscript, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

James T. Eckner: Dr. Eckner reviewed and revised the manuscript, added comments to the first draft, and approved the final manuscript as submitted.

Jennifer E. Zdroik: Dr. Zdroik reviewed and revised the manuscript, and approved the final

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Conflicts of Interest: The authors have no conflicts of interest relevant to this article to disclose.

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