1 in 5 Ontario students report serious brain injury: study

A new study shows 1 in 5 middle- and high-school students in Ontario report they have suffered at least one head injury that knocked them unconscious for more than five minutes or required overnight hospitalization.

The studys authors say that suggests traumatic head injuries are far more common among young people than previous statistics indicated, likely because many incidents go unreported.

The paper, published in the latest issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, looks at the prevalence of such injuries among the provinces public school students in grades 7 through 12, as well as the circumstances surrounding them.

Researchers at Torontos St. Michaels Hospital analyzed data from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Healths 2011 survey on drug use and health, which was filled out by close to 9,000 Ontario students aged 11 to 20.

They found that roughly 5 per cent of students reported having a traumatic brain injury in the past year and more than half those cases (56 per cent) were sports-related.

There was also a link with alcohol and cannabis, with frequent users showing significantly higher odds of a head injury in the past year than their tee-totalling peers.

Boys were more likely than girls to report having experienced a head injury in the past year 6.9 per cent compared with 4.3 per cent, according to the study.

Head injuries more than a year old were also linked to poorer grades in the present, said co-author Gabriela Ilie, a neuropsychologist.

There is a relationship, but that relationship is important when we keep in mind that traumatic brain injuries are preventable, she said Tuesday.

The latest figures from Statistics Canada showed 2.7 per cent of teens aged 12 to 19 had suffered a head injury in 2009 and 2010, though the agency didnt specify how serious those injuries were.

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1 in 5 Ontario students report serious brain injury: study