Researchers at the London, Ontario-based Western University have discovered the different causes for concussion in children living in rural and urban areas. According to a University of Western Ontario news release, youth living in rural areas are more likely to sustain concussions from injuries involving motorized vehicles while youth in urban areas largely suffer concussions as a result of sports. Hockey accounts for 40% of these injuries. The study about childhood concussions is published in the Journal of Trauma and Acute Care Surgery.

Douglas Fraser, MD, PhD, and Tanya Charyk Stewart, MSc, and their team tracked all the youth under the age of 18 years who presented to the London Health Sciences Center (LHSC) emergency departments with a concussion over a 6-year period. The results showed that there were 2,112 pediatric concussions, with a steady increase in the number treated each year.

A news report from Science Daily notes that the goal following this research is to create injury prevention programs that target and educate those at high risk of sustaining a concussion. Fraser says, “It was important for us to learn about who is getting injured, where they’re getting injured, and why they’re getting injured. Once you answer those questions, then you can implement targeted injury prevention programs.”

Sources: Science Daily, University of Western Ontario