Study: Concussed youth players return sooner

11:00 PM ET

CHICAGO — Younger football players are more likely to return to the field less than a day after suffering concussions than those in high school and college, according to a new study.

Only 10 percent of young players with concussions resumed football that soon, but the results are concerning and suggest a need for more sidelines medical supervision and better recognition of concussion symptoms in children, said sports injury researcher Zachary Kerr, the lead author.

He directs an injury surveillance program at Datalys Center for Sports Injury Research and Prevention, Inc., an independent group in Indianapolis.

“Younger kids may struggle to describe” their symptoms, and health effects from concussions may not show up right away, Kerr said, citing possible explanations for the study’s findings.

Much of the attention on sports concussions has focused on professional football and in college, but there’s a need for more prevention efforts and research at all levels including among the youngest players, Kerr said.

The study also found differences in concussion symptoms depending on players’ age, offering guidance for parents, doctors and coaches in assessing injured players.

The NCAA and USA Football, the national governing body for amateur football, helped pay for the study, published Monday in JAMA Pediatrics.

The researchers say it’s the first study to compare …

continue reading in source espn.go.com