Need for study on effects of repetitive heading in soccer

sports soccer concussion

By Jenna Iacurci , Parent Herald Feb 11, 11:23 am

Researchers say they're concerned about soccer players getting their head in the game.

Dr. Tom Schweizer, the director of the Neuroscience Research Program of St. Michael's Hospital, stresses in the journal Brain Injury the importance of more research on the effects of repetitive concussions or multiple head impacts on athletes' long-term cognitive and behavioral abilities.

More than 265 million people in the world play soccer, which unavoidably entails being subjected to possible head or neck injury, usually from collisions with other players or the playing surface itself.

Schweizer notes the importance of more studies on the subject.

"The practice of heading, which might occur thousands of times over a player's career, carries unknown risks, but may uniquely contribute to cognitive decline or impairment in the short- or long-term," he said in a statement. "Thus, soccer players present a unique opportunity to study whether cumulative sub-concussive impacts affect cognitive functioning, similar to that of concussions."

After looking into past research, Schweizer found that 5.8 to 8.6 percent of injuries during the game were caused by concussions. Another study discovered that 81.8 percent of athletes who had suffered a concussion had experienced two or more and that players with a history of concussion were more than three times more likley to sustain another one than those who had never had a concussion.

Studies looking at the long-term effects of heading found greater memory, planning and perceptual deficits in forwards and defenders. Professional players who reportedly headed the most had the poorest verbal and visual memory performance.

Co-author Monica Maher said prevention methods should be implemented.

"Use of protective headgear, limiting heading exposure or stressing proper heading technique in younger children and increasing concussion education are all suggestions to perhaps decrease the incidence of head injury and their subsequent effects in the long run."