Fewer boys suffer head injuries, but rates increase for girls

(HealthDay) – There is good news and bad news in a new study of children visiting US emergency departments for head trauma: the rate of these potentially serious events has decreased in boys, but has increased for girls.

In recent years, the danger of concussion caused by contact sports, especially football, has attracted a lot of media attention. Thus, the authors of the new report have speculated that new "security-conscious rule changes" for high school football, or even more parents saying no to boys participating in the sport, could be at risk. 39, the origin of the decrease in head injuries.

The study included data on visits to US emergency departments for traumatic brain injury related to sports and recreation among people under 18 years of age, listed between 2010 and 2016.

The investigators found that the rate of these cases among boys had increased from about 487 per 100,000 in 2010 to 559 in 2012. However, their numbers then began to decline, so that's in 2016, the rate of traumatic brain injury in boys had fallen to about 483 cases. per 100,000 inhabitants.

Nevertheless, traumatic brain injury remains "an important public health problem," said a team led by Kelly Sarmiento, a researcher at the Division of Unintentional Injury Prevention at the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The Sarmiento team said that efforts to limit "player-to-player contacts and rule changes reducing the risk of collision are essential to prevent traumatic brain injury" in football, football and football. other contact sports.

The study also showed that boys had no improvement. While the rate of head injuries treated by emergencies among girls under the age of 18 was 216.5 per 100,000 children in 2010, this rate had increased to approximately 254 per 100,000 in 2016. The authors of study do not know why girls experienced an increase in these events.

Overall, over a seven-year study period, about 2 million children were taken to the emergency room because of head trauma suffered during sports or sports activities. recreational activities, reveals the study. This translates to about 283,000 cases a year.

It is therefore not surprising that boys are twice as likely as girls to experience this type of injury and that in boys, contact sports account for 45% of cases, the results revealed.

In addition, football-related head injuries account for approximately 27% of all brain injuries in boys. The CDC team reported that football was the contact sport most likely to cause this type of injury.

An emergency doctor said that he and his colleagues still saw these types of injuries too often.

"The brains of children and adolescents continue to grow – a problem that puts them at greater risk for the long-term effects of head trauma," said Dr. Robert Glatter, a physician at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York.

And while the focus is often on contact sports like football, basketball or football, "it is also important to realize that many head injuries occur during unorganized sports, on the ground of gambling or even in "bounce houses", said Glatter.

The risk reduction for children is the same regardless of the activity.

"The establishment of rules and expectations that focus on reducing aggressive and difficult games – while focusing on injury prevention – is an important step in the protection of children and adolescents, "said Glatter.

The new report was released on March 15 in the CDC. Weekly report on morbidity and mortality.

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