College athletes and service academy cadets with non-sports-related concussions have worse outcomes, more days lost to injury

Jun 11

By Aaron Banse. This article was initially published in our 5/12/22 Concussion Alliance newsletterplease consider subscribing.

A study published in BMJ Journals compared the health outcomes of athletes who experienced sports-related concussions (SRC) and non-sports-related concussions (non-SRC). The study looked at 5,216 collegiate athletes and military service academy cadets in 30 colleges and universities participating in the National Collegiate Athletic Association-Department of Defense Concussion Assessment, Research, and Education (CARE) Consortium. After a diagnosed concussion, CARE participants were evaluated within 24-48 hours and when they returned to play (RTP). The evaluation involved checking for symptom severity and whether the participant reported the injury immediately. A second evaluation at RTP recorded the total number of days the participant reported symptoms and the “time until unrestricted RTP.”

The study found that 62.4% of participants with non-SRC did not immediately report their injury, a significantly higher rate than the 48.1% of SRC who did not immediately report their injury. Athletes with non-SRC also reported higher symptom severity (28 vs. 24 symptoms), longer-lasting concussion symptoms (11 days vs. 7 days), and more days lost to injury (20 days vs. 13 days).

The study authors hypothesize that “This may be due to lack of immediate care or higher variability in injury biomechanics associated with non-sport related mechanisms.” Non-SRC are understudied compared to SRC, and these results suggest that more work must be done to improve diagnostics and treatment for non-SRC.

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