Abstract des Autors

The objective of this study is to investigate rates of concussion and selected factors related to its occurrence in American football players. A prospective epidemiological study followed an national sample of high school and college players for two seasons. There were a total of 14,997 player-seasons, over 1 million Athlete-Exposures to the possibility of injury and 595 concussions recorded. The concussion rate for high school players is 0.56 concussions per 1,000 Athlete-Exposures; for college players 0.58 per 1,000 Athlete-Exposures and 0.57 overall. Concussions is the second (high school) or third (college) most frequent injury, is 9 to 10 times more likely to occur in games than in practices and more than half are results of helmet-to-helmet contact. The risk of sustaining a concussion is six times greater for individuals with a history of concussion than for individuals with no history. Further commentary on these and other results is presented. Verf.-Referat