Epidemiology of acute head injuries in Canadian children and youth soccer players.

BACKGROUND Limited studies have been done to assess head injury characteristics for children and youth soccer players in Canada. OBJECTIVES To describe acute head injury characteristics in children and youth soccer players and identify the characteristics of patients who required hospital admission. METHODS Analysis was based on the Canadian Hospitals Injury Reporting and Prevention Program (CHIRPP). Soccer-related head injuries amongst 5-19 year old children presenting at 16 hospital emergency departments during 1994-2004 were selected in the study. All head injury-related variables (nature of injury, mechanism of injury, location of play, soccer type and season of play) were stratified by age and sex. A logistic regression model, consisting of the injury-related variables, sex and age as the independent variables, was performed to examine the characteristics of those head-injured patients who required hospital admission. RESULTS Overall, there were 4720 head injury cases identified (15% of all soccer-related emergency department visits). The highest proportion of head injuries was amongst males (70%) and children aged 10-14 years (50%). Of head injury cases, 35% were superficial and/or open wounds, 28% minor head injuries, 11% concussions, 9% eye injuries and 5% fractures. The total number of cases that required hospital admission was 164 (3.5%). Based on logistic regression analysis, head-injured youth aged 15-19 years were almost two times more likely to be admitted to hospital than their younger counterparts (OR=2.2, 95% CI: 1.3-3.6). Compared to ball contact injuries, contact with structures/surfaces, other players/persons and other unspecified objects increased the odds of hospital admission at least by two-folds. Moreover, those who played unorganised soccer were significantly more likely to be admitted to the hospital as compared to those who played organised soccer (OR=1.7, 95% CI: 1.2-2.6). Finally, playing in the non-winter seasons had increased likelihood of hospital admissions. CONCLUSIONS Head injuries constituted a significant proportion of soccer-related injuries presenting to emergency departments. Future studies need to evaluate the nature and safety of the playing surfaces/turf and other structures on or around the field of play.