One in five Canadians have had concussions

• The headlines surrounding concussions in Canada tend to blare out the names of such superstars as Sidney Crosby, Chris Pronger and Jon Cornish.

But in truth, many Canadians have had their own concussion crisis to deal with at home, school, the local rink or even on the playground.

According to an online poll conducted by the Angus Reid Institute, one in five Canadians have suffered a concussion playing sports, with the majority of those concussions coming before the age of 18. The brain injury can cause headaches, nausea, depression and learning difficulties.

“This is an issue that clearly hits close to home for a lot of Canadians,” says Shachi Kurl, senior vice-president at Angus Reid. “Think about it. One in five at your dining table over Christmas — one in five in your car — has had at some point, playing sports, that kind of injury.”

The release Wednesday of the Angus Reid survey, conducted among 1,522 Canadian adults selected at random, comes on the heels of a four-part Postmedia series that detailed the haphazard approach to concussion management in Canada.

Concussion protocols vary wildly from province to province and city to city — even in the same sport.

Doctors say that when it comes to safety, a formal concussion strategy is every bit as important as a helmet. Studies show concussions are three to six times more likely to be detected in an environment with a protocol in place. And the concussions that cause the most damage tend to follow the ones that go undetected when the brain is not given the proper time to heal and rest.

According to the Angus Reid survey:

Half of all Canadians say they are not sure whether schools or youth leagues in their provinces have a good plan to prevent concussions;

More than half of respondents say too many parents (57 per cent) and coaches (58 per cent) would allow a young athlete to return to play too soon after a concussion;

Canadians almost unanimously support mandatory concussion education for coaches (95 per cent) and requiring a doctor’s permission for return to play if an athlete is suspected of having a concussion (92 per cent).

In terms of encouraging news, the survey suggests a cultural paradigm shift in terms of young athletes hiding their concussion symptoms. More than two-thirds (68 per cent) of those aged 18-34 year said a responsible adult was aware of their injury when it happened, compared with 61 per cent of those aged 35-54 and fewer than half (45 per cent) of those 55 and older.