BMJ 2015;351:h3789 doi: 10.1136/bmj.h3789 (Published 16 July 2015)
Page 1 of 1
Research News
RESEARCH NEWS Banning heading in soccer would have limited effect on concussions, study finds Jacqui Wise London
Banning heading the ball in soccer would have limited effectiveness in preventing concussion injuries, as most are caused by player to player contact, researchers have found.
The retrospective analysis, published in JAMA Pediatrics, was based on data from a nationally representative sample of high schools in the United States from 2005 to 2014.1 Soccer has increased in popularity in the United States over the past three decades and is played widely by both boys and girls at school. The game has become more physical in recent years, leading to calls to ban heading of the ball to reduce concussions.
The researchers found that concussion rates for both boys and girls rose considerably over the nine year study period. Among girls there were 627 concussions during 1.3 million athlete exposures—an athlete exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one school sanctioned soccer practice or competition. This corresponds to a rate of 4.50 concussions per 10 000 athlete exposures. For boys there were 442 concussions sustained during almost 1.6 million athlete exposures—a rate of 2.78 concussions per 10 000. Player to player contact was the most common mechanism of concussion in boys (68%) and girls (53%). Heading the ball was the most common soccer specific activity, responsible for almost a third (30.6%) of concussions in boys and just over a quarter (25.3%) in girls. For concussions that were related to heading the ball, contact with another player was the most common mechanism of injury among boys (78.1%) and girls (61.9%), over contact with the ball or goalpost.
“These data indicate that, although banning heading from youth soccer would likely prevent some concussions, reducing
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
athlete-athlete contact across all phases of play would likely be a more effective way to prevent concussions as well as other injuries,” the researchers concluded.
The debate about the need to reduce the number of head injuries in soccer echoes those in rugby and American football. Public health researchers have said that the UK government should establish injury surveillance and prevention strategies before proceeding with its plans to target funding and increase participation in a high risk collision sport such as ruby.2 US researchers have argued that although it remains unclear whether brain damage is an inevitable consequence or an avoidable risk of American football, strategies are needed to reduce the number of concussive and subconcussive head impacts.3
1 2 3
Cornstock RD, Currie D, Pierpoint L, et al. An evidence based discussion of heading the ball and concussions in high school soccer. JAMA Pediatrics 13 Jul 2015, doi:10.1001/ jamapediatrics.2015.1062. Freitag A, Kirkwood G, Pollock A. Rugby injury surveillance and prevention programmes: are they effective? BMJ 2015;350:h1587. Asplund C, Best T. Brain damage in American Football. BMJ 2015;350:h1381.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h3789 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
Page 1 of 1
Research News
RESEARCH NEWS Banning heading in soccer would have limited effect on concussions, study finds Jacqui Wise London
Banning heading the ball in soccer would have limited effectiveness in preventing concussion injuries, as most are caused by player to player contact, researchers have found.
The retrospective analysis, published in JAMA Pediatrics, was based on data from a nationally representative sample of high schools in the United States from 2005 to 2014.1 Soccer has increased in popularity in the United States over the past three decades and is played widely by both boys and girls at school. The game has become more physical in recent years, leading to calls to ban heading of the ball to reduce concussions.
The researchers found that concussion rates for both boys and girls rose considerably over the nine year study period. Among girls there were 627 concussions during 1.3 million athlete exposures—an athlete exposure is defined as one athlete participating in one school sanctioned soccer practice or competition. This corresponds to a rate of 4.50 concussions per 10 000 athlete exposures. For boys there were 442 concussions sustained during almost 1.6 million athlete exposures—a rate of 2.78 concussions per 10 000. Player to player contact was the most common mechanism of concussion in boys (68%) and girls (53%). Heading the ball was the most common soccer specific activity, responsible for almost a third (30.6%) of concussions in boys and just over a quarter (25.3%) in girls. For concussions that were related to heading the ball, contact with another player was the most common mechanism of injury among boys (78.1%) and girls (61.9%), over contact with the ball or goalpost.
“These data indicate that, although banning heading from youth soccer would likely prevent some concussions, reducing
For personal use only: See rights and reprints http://www.bmj.com/permissions
athlete-athlete contact across all phases of play would likely be a more effective way to prevent concussions as well as other injuries,” the researchers concluded.
The debate about the need to reduce the number of head injuries in soccer echoes those in rugby and American football. Public health researchers have said that the UK government should establish injury surveillance and prevention strategies before proceeding with its plans to target funding and increase participation in a high risk collision sport such as ruby.2 US researchers have argued that although it remains unclear whether brain damage is an inevitable consequence or an avoidable risk of American football, strategies are needed to reduce the number of concussive and subconcussive head impacts.3
1 2 3
Cornstock RD, Currie D, Pierpoint L, et al. An evidence based discussion of heading the ball and concussions in high school soccer. JAMA Pediatrics 13 Jul 2015, doi:10.1001/ jamapediatrics.2015.1062. Freitag A, Kirkwood G, Pollock A. Rugby injury surveillance and prevention programmes: are they effective? BMJ 2015;350:h1587. Asplund C, Best T. Brain damage in American Football. BMJ 2015;350:h1381.
Cite this as: BMJ 2015;351:h3789 © BMJ Publishing Group Ltd 2015
Subscribe: http://www.bmj.com/subscribe
