Research: Concussions In American Children Possibly Underreported

There may be more concussions in children in the United States than what was previously thought, according to new research. Statistics on concussions in children are mostly drawn from records from emergency rooms, but researchers have found that a lot of concussions are actually first diagnosed in primary care sites such as a pediatrician's office.

The research was conducted by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention within the CHOP's regional pediatric network. It appears in the journal JAMA Pediatrics. 

CHOP study: Number of children's concussions in the US is underestimated by 80 percent. https://t.co/RH7Zc6WVvR

— Billy Penn (@billy_penn) June 1, 2016

Diagnosis For Concussions Happening In Primary Care Sites

Researchers looked into where children aged zero to 17 who had a CHOP primary care doctor and were found to have suffered a concussion went for diagnosis. They found that 82 percent were first diagnosed at a primary care area, 12 percent were diagnosed at the emergency room, 5 percent at specialty care areas for sports medicine, neurology or trauma and one percent were directly admitted to the hospital.

Science Daily reported that the study involved the analysis of over 8,000 diagnoses of concussions in children from July 2010 to June 2014. Visits to primary care areas for diagnosis was found to have increased by 13 percent over the said period, while visits to the emergency departments decreased by 16 percent.

Primary Care Site Workers Should Be Trained And Supported

"This study provides direction for health care networks and clinicians about the critical importance of providing targeted training and resources in primary care settings," said study co-author Dr. Christina Master, as per Medical Daily. Master is a pediatric sports medicine specialist at CHOP.

Having pediatricians as the first line of defense in concussions is good because of the familiarity factor, according to Alex Diamond, a pediatric sports medicine specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. "They know the kid at baseline and they know the family," Diamond told ABC News.

If you suspect your child to have a concussion, would you go to your pediatrician or the emergency room? Write your comments below.