User:Hannatol01/Pediatric concussion

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Concussions are one of the most common traumatic head injuries involved with sports or injuries; children under the age of eighteen having the highest rate among all age groups. Among various sports that were observed, soccer was found to have the highest number of concussions followed by football and basketball, respectively. Male pediatric patients had more incidence of concussions than females within sports-related concussion occurrences. Within different levels of schools (elementary, middle, and high school), the incidence of concussions was highest in high schoolers (43.1%) compared to elementary (25%) and middle schoolers (31.9%). Most of the concussions in a school setting were associated with Physical Education (PE) class being sports-related as well as opposed to during recess, walking in the hall, or in a classroom. Among children that were diagnosed with concussions, there was not a significant difference in rate of concussions between males and females.

Despite the pediatric population having the highest rate of concussions among all age groups, the pediatric population has the lowest rate of loss of consciousness accompanying the concussion among all age groups. Among children attending school following a pediatric concussion, 13.7% continued to be symptomatic 3 months afterwards; this could not be explained by trauma, family dysfunction, or psychological adjustment.

The most recent estimated range of concussions among patients 18 years of age or younger is between 1.1 million to 1.9 million concussions annually. The estimate is a wide range due to the difficulty of accurately reporting because of differing definitions used, lack of surveillance systems, and possible underreporting of the condition. Also, there are differences on what type of patients are used as study subjects within studies to estimate the incidence. Many studies use emergency department visits as a proxy for the estimate; however, recently it was found that about 75% of 5-17 years old patients visited their primary care provider to be diagnosed with a concussion.

The rate of incidence of concussions, in general, decreases with age; the younger generation experience head traumas more often. However, overall the number of pediatric patients diagnosed with a concussion has increased from 2013 to 2018. This increase of diagnoses could be related to increased frequency of injury, increased participation in sport activities, and more awareness around concussions. The awareness in turn has led to an increased production of policies and procedures dealing with detection, managing symptoms, and return-to-play protocols among sports organizations and schools.