National High School Athlete Concussion Rates From 2005-2006 to 2011-2012.

Abstract

High school athletes are at risk for concussions. Although a previously published study showed an increase in concussion rates for a single school district, it remains unknown if the rate of concussions among high school athletes is increasing nationally. To investigate national high school athlete concussion rates over time. Descriptive epidemiologic study. The rate of concussions per 1000 athlete-exposures was calculated for academic years 2005-2006 through 2011-2012 using the High School Reporting Information Online sports injury surveillance system. During the 7-year period of this study, High School Reporting Information Online captured 4024 concussions with overall concussion diagnosis rates increasing significantly from 0.23 to 0.51 (P = .004). Concussion diagnosis rates increased for each of the 9 sports studied, with 5 sports having statistically significant increases over this 7-year period. The study analysis indicates that national concussion diagnosis rates for high school sports have increased significantly over time.