Dec 28, 2014 04:38 PM EST By J Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

A recent study suggests that new laws regulating concussion treatment, bolstered by heightened public awareness, have resulted in a large increase in the treatment of concussion-related injuries for school-age athletes.

Over the past decade, concerns over concussion injuries and media coverage of them have skyrocketed. Since 2009, all 50 states and the District of Columbia have enacted concussion laws regulating concussion treatment--the first laws written to address a specific injury.

Researchers from the University of Michigan found a 92 percent increase in children seeking medical assistance for concussions in states with the legislation in place. States without concussion laws showed a 75 percent increase in those seeking injury-related health care.

"There are two stories here," Steven Broglio, senior author of the study, said in a statement. "First, the legislation works. The other story is that broad awareness of an injury has an equally important effect. We found large increases in states without legislation, showing that just general knowledge plays a huge part."

For the study, Broglio and colleagues examined nationwide insurance data from privately insured 12-to-18-year-olds to evaluate the effect of concussion laws on concussion treatment from Jan. 1, 2006 to June 30, 2012 in states with and without concussion laws.

The legislation seems to be working as intended, researchers concluded.

"My thought was that all types of concussion-related services might increase in states that enacted the legislation," said Teresa Gibson, the study's first author who was vice president of health outcomes for Ann Arbor-based Truven Health Analytics when the research was conducted. "The fact that we didn't see inpatient visits and emergency department visits increase in states with the legislation, but we saw office-based procedures go up, suggests that the legislation is having the intended effect on these injuries."

Broglio added that "these injuries are the ones you want to catch, so that athletes will sit out until these injuries are resolved."

The results of the study underscore the importance of public education as well as legislation.

The findings are detailed in the American Medical Association journal JAMA Pediatrics.

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