Head, Neck, and Traumatic Brain Injury Among Children Involved in Sports: Results From the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to assess the prevalence of head and neck injury (HNI) requiring hospitalization or emergency care and traumatic brain injury with loss of consciousness (TBI-LOC) among youth athletes and nonathletes (ages 9-10 years) using the baseline cohort of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study.Methods: National data from the baseline cohort of the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development study (2016-2018; n = 11,869) were analyzed.Results: The analysis found that 12.1% of the sample indicated HNI during their lifetime, while .8% indicated TBI-LOC. Participation in multiple sports (adjusted prevalence rate ratio [aPRR] = 1.29, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.06,1.55), contact sports (aPRR = 1.19, 95% CI = 1.05,1.34), and who had participated in sport for five or more years (aPRR = 1.42, 95% CI =1.16,1.73) had modestly higher prevalence rate ratios of reporting HNI compared to nonparticipants. Sport participation was not found to be associated with TBI-LOC.Conclusions: The study provides needed epidemiological information on the prevalence of HNI and TBI-LOC among younger adolescents who participate in sports. While the risk of TBI-LOC appears to be low among youth athletes and nonathletes, the risk of more serious head injuries may increase due to length of participation in sport and involvement in high contact sports. (c) 2020 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. All rights reserved.