BETHESDA, Md., July 6 (UPI) -- The incidence of catastrophic head injuries in football is dramatically higher at the high school level than at the college level, says a U.S. study.
Catastrophic head injuries -- which include brain bleeding and swelling -- are rare, but athletes may be left with permanent brain damage, according to a study published in the American Journal of Sports Medicine.
"High school football players have more than three times the risk of a catastrophic head injury than their college peers," lead author Dr. Barry P. Boden, of the Uniform Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, Md., said in a statement.
There was also a higher percentage of high school athletes playing with neurologic symptoms from a previous head injury at the time they sustained a catastrophic injury, according to the study published in The American Journal of Sports Medicine.
Football has more direct catastrophic injuries than any other sport tracked by the National Center for Catastrophic Sports Injury Research, said Boden.
