"Every minute, 32 people in the United States experience violence at the hands of an intimate partner. Roughly half of American women and 40% of American men will experience domestic violence at least once in their lives. Most incidents go unreported. One study found that just one in five victims sought medical help immediately after suffering a head injury. Nearly all these injuries involve a blow to the neck or head."
"On any given Sunday, you will see up to 30 medical professionals standing on the sidelines of a professional football game. At a high school game, you are likely to see paramedics within eyesight of the players on the field. There are no medical providers who stand outside the home of domestic violence survivors waiting for an injury to occur. There is no concussion protocol for those who are abused."
"In addition to repeated impacts to the head, domestic violence survivors often suffer strangulation, being choked, resulting in decreased oxygen to the brain, loss of bladder and bowel function, seizures, and sometimes death. The long-term consequences of repeated concussion and strangulation include sleep disturbance"
Football season raises questions about concussion recovery, return-to-play timing, and cumulative injuries. Concussions also arise outside sports; car accidents commonly injure NCAA athletes and falls are the leading cause overall. Domestic violence survivors form a hidden high-risk group: more than 75% suffer one or more traumatic brain injuries. Many incidents go unreported and only a minority seek immediate medical care after head injury. Repeated head impacts and strangulation in abuse cause hypoxia, seizures, loss of bladder and bowel function, and sometimes death. Survivors lack onsite medical monitoring and formal concussion protocols, and long-term effects include sleep disturbance.
Read at Fortune
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