Change in head impact exposure following return-to-sport in concussed football athletes

Jared R. Muench, Advocate Health - MidwestFollow
Grant P. Sinson, Department of Neurosurgery, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI.
Breanna Glaeser
Alok S. Shah
Steven Rowson, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
Stefan Duma, Department of Biomedical Engineering and Mechanics, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA.
Jason Mihalik, Matthew Gfeller Center, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC.
Alison Brooks, Department of Orthopedics, School of Medicine and Public Health, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI.
Kenneth Cameron, John A. Feagin Jr. Sports Medicine Fellowship, Keller Army Hospital, United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.
Christopher Giza, Departments of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
Joshua Goldman, Departments of Neurosurgery and Pediatrics, UCLA Steve Tisch BrainSPORT Program, David Geffen School of Medicine, University of California, Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA.
Gerald McGinty, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO.
Larry Dwight Riggen, Indiana University School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bloomington, IN.
Paul F. Pasquina, Uniformed Services University & Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Washington, DC.
Steven P. Broglio, Michigan Concussion Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Thomas McAllister, Department of Psychiatry, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, IN.
Michael A. McCrea
Jaroslaw Harezlak, Indiana University School of Public Health, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Bloomington, IN.
Brian D. Stemper

Affiliations

Aurora St. Luke's Medical Center

Abstract

Purpose: Following sport-related concussions, early head impact exposure and premature return-to-sport are known to increase risk of repeat concussion in football athletes, yet athletes' true post-injury head impact exposure profiles (i.e., characteristics of recorded head impacts over a given time period) and biomechanical progression have not been explored. Accordingly, this study explored how head impact exposure in American college football athletes was altered during their return to sport from concussion, particularly within the same athletic season.

Methods: This analysis compared daily volume of head impacts following concussion with pre-injury levels using head impact exposure profiles of fifty-two concussed collegiate football athletes from six NCAA Division I programs, and further compared these athletes to team- and position-matched controls to minimize season- or team-related factors. Additionally, this study provided an analysis of the possible association between duration of recovery and change in head impact exposure following concussion using continuous linear regression.

Results: When comparing to pre-injury levels, 75% of concussed athletes reduced their head impact exposure in their immediate return-to-sport, while over 40% of concussed athletes did not reach their pre-injury level of head impact exposure at any point during the remainder of the concussion season segment. Furthermore, concussed athletes significantly decreased their head impact exposure over their immediate return-to-sport period when compared to team- and position-matched healthy, non-concussed athletes over the same time period. Finally, longer post-concussion recovery times were associated with larger decreases in head impact exposure after return-to-sport.

Conclusions: This study provides evidence for a shift in head impact exposure after returning from concussion, seen most strongly in the immediate days after return-to-sport. These findings align with the recent shift toward more conservative post-concussion management seen across multiple sports and playing levels.

Type

Article

PubMed ID

40778855

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