High school football players are more likely to suffer more symptoms after a concussion, and to need more recovery time than their college counterparts, a new study finds. For the study, Kerr and his colleagues analyzed data from three injury programs. They found that more than 1,400 sports-related concussions were reported among youth, high school and college football players from 2012 to 2014. The most common symptoms reported were headache, dizziness and difficulty concentrating.
The study found that high school football players had the highest average number of reported symptoms of concussion (5.60), followed by college athletes (5.56) and younger players (4.76). For high school players, the likelihood of returning to play at least 30 days after concussion was higher (19.5 percent) than younger players (just over 16 percent), or college football players (7 percent), the researchers found.