Concerns over rise in concussions in youth sport
A range of sports is seeing a rise in youth concussions with clinics across the country struggling to keep up with growing demand. Some sporting clubs are taking actions into their own hands amid an absence of policies in schools and local organisations.
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00:00 Well, the data is showing, I have to admit, quite stable concussion rates, but the concern
00:07 that we have is that this injury is highly underreported.
00:12 And so for every concussion that is presented to a hospital or a clinic, there could be
00:18 up to six times more kids that are concussed that don't go reported, and that's where we
00:23 start to see some problems.
00:24 Yeah, so why is there an underreporting?
00:27 Oh, look, a couple of reasons, I think.
00:30 Firstly, is that, you know, it's downplayed.
00:33 It's an injury that people go, "Oh, you'll be fine, mate.
00:36 It's only a head knock.
00:37 You'll be right."
00:39 And that automatically downplays this injury, which is basically a mild brain injury.
00:44 And so we just seem to dismiss it.
00:47 And I think some others, they don't want to be seen as weak or not committed to their
00:51 coach or teammates, so they try and hide it.
00:53 And that's where we start to see the problems.
00:55 Yeah, and you often read that it can be a long road to diagnosis for younger kids.
01:02 How does that play out?
01:03 Yeah, well, because we see what we call a constellation of symptoms, it's very difficult
01:08 to maybe pinpoint it down to a collision or a tackle or falling on the ground, unless
01:14 that is actually seen or reported by the parent or the child.
01:18 So it tends to be, well, it could be this, it could be that, and it takes a while for
01:22 the diagnosis to finally come through.
01:24 Yeah, and just how serious can that diagnosis be, even for a mild concussion?
01:29 Because you read about flow-on effects that perhaps aren't wide known, such as anxiety
01:34 and depression stemming from a head knock.
01:37 Yeah, that's correct.
01:38 And when it goes beyond a month, we start to think about it as persistent post-concussion
01:45 symptoms.
01:46 And that's when we start to get into, I guess, what I call dangerous territory.
01:49 And I work with adults mainly, but generally what we find is that these persistent symptoms
01:55 can go on for months or even years.
01:58 We often think that it's those high contact sports, you know, your rugby, the NRL that
02:04 you might get concussion in, but it really can come from a range of sports.
02:07 There's a great ABC digital piece today that looks at a gymnast.
02:12 Can you talk me through what sports can give someone a concussion?
02:20 Yeah, look, any sport can actually be at risk of a concussion, even those sports that we
02:25 don't consider traditionally as the type of sports like football or rugby or soccer.
02:31 We have concussions in tennis, for example, concussions in the story that you have this
02:35 morning in gymnastics.
02:36 And we've got to be aware that this injury can happen.
02:40 And look, overnight, World Netball have finally changed their protocols, which was really
02:44 fantastic to see and taking concussion more seriously, even though what we call it as
02:49 a controlled contact sport.
02:54 But they're taking on the injury much more seriously.
02:57 And that was really positive to see at all levels of the game.
02:59 So not just at Super Netball, but even in club and junior netball now, they're changing
03:03 their protocols.
03:04 Yeah, OK, so that's what I wanted to ask you next.
03:06 You know, we do see pretty stringent protocols at that elite level.
03:10 But what are the current guidelines for, you know, your grassroots sports?
03:15 Yes, technically, they should be the same.
03:17 The only problem is, is that you don't have the same resources.
03:20 So it's impossible to have a medical doctor at every game in every place in Australia
03:26 when kids and clubs are playing their football.
03:30 So we've got to increase the awareness and we've got to increase the education to our
03:34 first responders.
03:35 And I think that's something that we've got to address, hopefully with the parliamentary
03:38 inquiry recommendations next week.
03:40 Yeah, that was my next question.
03:42 What part does government play there?
03:43 What sort of recommendations will you be making to the parliament?
03:46 Well, the recommendations are going to be handed down, I think, on the 2nd of August.
03:50 And there'll be a range of things that we're expecting, such as minimum standards of education
03:56 for sports trainers, awareness campaigns throughout all clubs, and maybe some mandated
04:05 stand down times like you see in rugby and in football, like 12 days or 11 days.
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