An evaluation of the cumulative concussive effect of soccer heading inthe youth population.

Soccer is the most popular team sport in the world, with 120 million individualsparticipating and 16 million of these individuals being based in the UnitedStates. In addition, soccer has become the fastest growing team sport in theUnited States over the past 10 years. Head impact injuries have been citedas comprising 15% of all injuries related to soccer. Previous studies haveidentified the technique of heading as being a significant factor in headimpact injuries. In fact, 85% of various subgroups of participants, 19 yearsof age and older, have had a diminution in cognitive function abilities ona permanent basis. It was the purpose of this study to evaluate the effect of repetitive headimpacts due to heading in 57 youth soccer players with a mean age of 11.5years. The data were collected over three seasons during the first year, whichcorrelated to approximately 60 games and/or practices. One team of 18 boyswas followed for an additional year. The data collected included a cognitivefunction test, as well as documentation of concussive symptoms. These cognitiveevaluations, conducted at both periods of time, revealed that statisticallysignificant differences were not evident when compared to standardized normswith the exception of verbal learning. There was an inverse relationship betweenthe number of ball impacts and verbal learning. Of note, however, is that49% of the year-one study group did complain of headaches after heading theball. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]