Over the last 19 years, research indicates that head injuries among young female athletes have surged since the turn of the century. In the United States, emergency rooms and neurologists have treated three times the number of female athletes between the ages of 14 to 18 years old with sports-related concussions and closed-head compared to the same demographic in 2000.
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The study, published in the September issue of Research in Sports Medicine, shows head injuries treated by doctors jumped from almost 10,000 in 2000 to more than 30,000 in 2019. Females ranging from 14 to 16 years old account for 40% of these injuries.
The rise in these numbers could be attributed to three possible factors:
Research on female athletes with head injuries has been notoriously understudied. Whereas injuries sustained by male athletes playing contact sports have seen one study after another in the last 20 years.
This study was performed using the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System. Over the 19-year period, data were compiled and examined, correlating the estimates of head injuries to the number of high-school-aged female athletes.
The doctors leading the study believe the realistic injury statistics are likely a lot higher. Since females are more involved in sports, they estimate around half of the patients with concussions and closed-head injuries may not go to emergency departments.
Most of these head injuries were pervasive in six female sports:
Over 20 sports were listed in the study with field hockey, rugby, and swimming seeing the fewest injuries.
Softball and cheerleading were often associated with head injuries, but women continue to branch out into different types of sports. Because of this growth in female athletes, more studies are essential to the medical community when identifying and optimizing the treatment of these injuries.
Robert Parisien, the co-author of the study and MD of Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York City, says the findings “should drive further awareness and prevention surrounding the risk of sports-related concussions in females.”
Even if you have signed a waiver, you may be entitled to compensation. This typically depends on the language used in the waiver and the circumstances surrounding the injury.
Sustaining a sports injury can change a young person’s life—the quality of their day-to-day life and their future, especially if they are not able to compete or play sports in the future.
If you or a loved one suffers from a sports injury, do not delay, you have a limited time to file a claim. Contact the Philadelphia sports injury attorneys at Dan Doyle Law Group for a free consultation of your case by clicking here or calling 215-987-3730.