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FRIDAY, Jan. 30 (HealthDayNews) -- Current injury grading scales and return-to-play guidelines for high school athletes who suffer mild concussions may be too liberal, allowing players to return to the game too soon and risk further injury.

Because of that, researchers at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center say, tougher standards are needed. Their study and recommendation appear in the January issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

The current rules let athletes with grade 1 mild concussions go right back into the game if their on-the-field symptoms subside within 15 minutes.

But this study of 43 high school athletes with mild concussions found that all but four of them had memory decline and/or other symptoms that persisted for several days after they suffered the concussion.

"The findings of this study are alarming given that the participating athletes did not show clear evidence of on-the-field mental status changes, such as sideline confusion or amnesia lasting longer than 15 minutes, and were reported to be completely symptom-free within the same time period," principal investigator Mark Lovell, director of the UPMC Sports Medicine Concussion Program, says in a prepared statement.

"Based on currently used guidelines, all of these athletes potentially could have been cleared to return to play during the game or practice in which they were injured, potentially risking more severe injury," Lovell says.

More information

Here's where you can learn more about concussion.