New concussion study focuses on data from central Illinois schools

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) — Annabelle Shaffer, a Carle Illinois College of Medicine student, recently led a study on high school student athletes and concussion risks.

"Our concussion study, it's based on a data set from about 19 high schools in the central Illinois area. And then it's part of a monitoring program for concussions," said Shaffer.

She described certain sports as high risk, meaning that they have a higher probability in getting a concussion due to the amount of collisions and physical contact that occurs.

"The most common one we would have would be football. And then contact sports frequently collide with one another on the ground. And so that would be like basketball, soccer, wrestling, cheerleading, things like that," said Shaffer.

American football is considered the most risky, with a risk factor of approximately 52%. Soccer follows at 20%, and basketball at 7%.

In boys, the most common concussion symptoms include headaches, dizziness and confusion.

Other common symptoms include pressure in the head, migraines and not feeling right.

However, nearly 24% of sport related concussions occurred in girls.

"In our female athletes, we see more symptoms, more severe symptoms of emotionality or anxiety compared to our male athletes ... We found that students who attend a smaller school might have a higher risk of concussion compared to students who attend a larger school with 500 students or more," said Shaffer.

If your athlete does get a concussion, it's important to make sure they get plenty of rest, and ease into physical activity.

"Maybe they're walking around home, they're not running though in those first 48 hours, just gradual activity. And then they build up with the supervision of their trainer to jogging to maybe some weightlifting and then some drills and then fully return to play," explained Shaffer.