The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new data contained in a Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR) report, “Emergency Department Visits for Sports and Recreation-Related (SRR) Traumatic Brain Injuries (TBI) Among Children – United States, 2010–2016.”

Some of the data includes:

• An estimated 283,000 children seek care in US emergency departments each year for a sports-or recreation-related TBI
• Contact sports contributed to nearly half (45 percent) of the SRR-TBI visits examined
• The activities with the highest number of SRR-TBI visits included: football, bicycling, basketball, playground activities, and soccer
• Males and children aged 10–14 and 15–17 were most likely to sustain an SRR-TBI

The report includes prevention efforts and strategies to reduce the risk for SRR-TBI, including but not limited to limiting player-to-player collisions through rule changes, teaching strategies to reduce opportunities for head impacts, and using pre-participation athletic examinations to identify athletes at increased risk for TBI.

The CDC has many resources available, including:

• CDC HEADS UP campaign
  • Posters for athletes
  • Online trainings
• CDC Pediatric mTBI Guideline
• CDC: National Concussion Surveillance System

Contact Melissa Dehoff, RCPA Director of Rehabilitation Services, with questions.