AIM: Our aim was to use epidemiological data to determine the incidence of soccer-related head injuries in children aged 5-14 years who presented at emergency departments (EDs) or were admitted in hospitals in Victoria, Australia.
METHODS: ED presentation and hospital admission de-identified aggregate data were from the Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit. Soccer participation data were compared with the soccer-related head injury data to determine the incidence of this injury among these children.
RESULTS: The incidence of ED presentations was 0.17% of children participating in soccer during the study period (financial years 2011-2012 to 2015-2016). The 10-14-years age group presented with more head injuries than the 5-9-years age group. For the admissions data, soccer had a significantly lower (P = 0.0379) incidence of head injury when compared with 'sport as a whole'.
CONCLUSIONS: The low incidence of soccer-related head injuries presenting to an ED or admission to hospital is consistent with international findings.
Language: en
Keywords
children; emergency department; head injury; soccer; Victorian Injury Surveillance Unit