Canadians Reporting Sport-Related Concussions: Increasing and Now Stabilizing.

Abstract

Canada is currently engaged in a national harmonization of strategies to prevent and manage sport-related concussions. To examine the annual incidence rates of reported sport-related concussions or other brain injuries by participants in the Canadian Community Health Survey, a national public health survey which provides nearly 2 decades of serial data using consistent methodology. Serial cross-sectional survey. Population-based Canadian survey from 2000 to 2018 that collects data on "concussions or other brain injuries." Respondents 12 years and older. Sex and age categorized 12 to 14 years, 15 to 19 years, 20 to 29 years, and 30+ years. National incidence rates of participants reporting concussions or other brain injuries occurring within the previous year while engaged in "organized sports/leisure sports or physical exercise." Data were available for 2000/01, 2003, 2005/6, 2009/10, 2013/4, and 2017/8 (N = 757 383). A previously stable annual incidence of reported sport-related concussions or other brain injuries increased nearly 2 and a half-fold from 2005/06 through 2013/14 (P < 0.0001) but seems to have stabilized recently (2013/14 vs 2017/8, P = 0.35). This trend is similar for both men and women but is manifest primarily within youth (12-19 years) as opposed to adults (>19 years). Approximately 1 in 450 Canadians 12 years and older report sport-related concussions or other brain injuries as their most significant injury associated with disability in the previous year (2017-2018: 221 per 100 000 population, 95% confidence interval: 179-264). In Canada, the annual incidence rates of reported sport-related concussions or other brain injuries is changing and may reflect improved reporting and recognition.