Key result
Youth athletes suffer ~1.41 concussions per 1000 athlete exposures, peaking in taekwondo, rugby, and hockey.
Why the study?
Sport-related concussions are a concern for young athletes due to potential long-term health problems, requiring a comprehensive overview of incidence in youth sports to understand associated risks.
Meta-Analysis (n=3,025,911)
Collision sports such as rugby, American football, and ice hockey present the highest risk of sport-related concussions among youth athletes, with an overall pooled incidence of 1.41 per 1000 athlete exposures.
Supports targeted prevention in youth collision sports; extends single-sport data with pooled incidence across 21 sports.
Background Sport-related concussions (SRC) are a concern for young athletes due to the potential for long-term health problems. This systematic review and meta-analysis aimed to provide a comprehensive overview of the literature exploring SRC incidence in youth sports to understand the associated risks. Methods Medline, Embase, SPORTDiscus, PsycINFO, and Web of Science databases were searched without language restrictions up to September 2024. Studies were included if they (i) reported data for calculation of SRC incidence, (ii) were a prospective cohort study, and (iii) included a sample aged ≤ 18 years. Studies that reported Athlete Exposure (AE) or Player Hours (PH) as SRC incidence data measures were included in a multi-level random-effects meta-analysis. Additional analysis explored SRC incidence based on age, sex, country, year of data collection, setting, and level of contact. Results Of the 6474 studies reviewed for eligibility, 116 studies were accepted for a systematic review and 99 in the meta-analysis. A total of 3,025,911 participants were included in the review (59% male, 41% female); however, 41% of studies did not report sample size. The pooled incidence rate of SRC per 1000 AE was found to be 1.41 across 21 sports, and 4.36 per 1000 PH across 7 sports. The highest incidence per 1000 AE were in taekwondo, rugby union, and ice hockey, and the highest incidence per 1000 PH were in rugby 7s, rugby league, and rugby union. Conclusions This systematic review and meta-analysis can serve as an updated baseline for risk of concussion among youth athletes across various sports. Trial registration : This systematic review was registered on OSF Registries ( https://osf.io/v298s ).
No takes yet. Share an insight, caveat, or question.
Ingram et al. (2025) conducted a meta-analysis in Sport-related concussions (SRC) (n=3,025,911). Youth sports participation was evaluated on Pooled incidence rate of SRC per 1000 Athlete Exposures (AE) (95% CI 1.02-1.94). The pooled incidence rate of sport-related concussion in youth athletes was 1.41 per 1000 athlete exposures, with the highest rates observed in taekwondo, rugby union, and ice hockey.
Synapse has enriched 5 closely related papers on similar clinical questions. Consider them for comparative context: