Smacks860

Smacks860 t1_jct9vtl wrote

Reply to comment by D74248 in A Swedish study found elite male soccer players are 1.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease compared to population controls. A previous study from Scotland suggested that soccer players were 3.5 times more likely to develop neurodegenerative disease. by Wagamaga

Not trying to be condescending here, but there is a ton of correlation bias going on on your part. I’m not saying soccer isn’t “rough” (I played it my whole life so I do have some anecdotal understanding), but to interpret whatever data you are seeing as - HS girls soccer is rougher/more concussions/etc. than HS football is a huge error (and honestly a good example of how wrongly people interpreted data on a day to day basis for many important topics). There are many variables in play here. For example, it is extremely likely that HS girls tend to report injuries (then leading to diagnoses) at a much higher rate than HS boys / football players. Also, a concussion-causing incident is much more obvious (to a coach / parent / viewer) in soccer than it is in football, again leading to more reporting/diagnoses. Further - why do you think HS girls soccer shows a higher concussion rate than boys HS soccer (I’m assuming that is true, based on whatever reports you are seeing and the fact that you specifically stated “girls HS soccer” vs just “HS soccer”)? It’s the same sport, same rules, although boys soccer is played at a much faster pace (if anything should correlate to higher concussions in boys HS soccer). The answer is because again - statistics don’t always tell the full story.

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