@article{ref1,
title="The natural history of sport-related concussion in collegiate athletes: findings from the NCAA-DoD CARE Consortium",
journal="Sports medicine",
year="2021",
author="Broglio, Steven P. and McAllister, Thomas and Katz, Barry P. and Lapradd, Michelle and Zhou, Wenxian and McCrea, Michael A.",
volume="ePub",
number="ePub",
pages="ePub-ePub",
abstract="BACKGROUND: Sport-related concussion is recognized as a significant injury with variable recovery rates. <br><br>OBJECTIVE: This study defined the acute natural history of sport concussion in male and female collegiate athletes participating in a broad array of sports. <br><br>METHODS: We conducted a prospective, longitudinal investigation among collegiate student athletes (n = 34,709) from 30 academic institutions. Primary outcomes included the time (days) from injury until initiation of a return to participation (RTP) protocol and time from injury until medical clearance for unrestricted RTP. <br><br>RESULTS: Concussed athletes (n = 1751, 19.2 years, 63.2% male) participating in 22 different sports began the RTP protocol in a median 6.4 (IQR 3.7-11.8) days. Time to initiate the RTP protocol was lengthened by less frequent post-injury assessments, greater initial post-injury symptom severity, limited contact sports participation, practice/training injuries, and three or more prior concussions. The median total RTP duration was 12.8 (IQR 8.7-20.1) days. Total RTP duration was shorter with ADHD medication usage, males, and greater assessment frequency; while greater initial post-injury symptom severity, practice-/training-related injuries, and three or more prior concussions had longer recoveries. <br><br>CONCLUSION: Although median recovery times are consistent with previous guidelines, it was not until 1 month post-injury that a preponderance of collegiate athletes were cleared to begin the RTP protocol (92%) or cleared for unrestricted sport participation (85%). Intrinsic and extrinsic factors had a small effect, altering recovery trajectories by up to 2 days, suggesting a largely unified approach to post-injury monitoring and management across all athletes. These data represent a shift from previous classification parameters of normal clinical recovery.<p /> <p>Language: en</p>",
language="en",
issn="0112-1642",
doi="10.1007/s40279-021-01541-7",
url="http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s40279-021-01541-7"
}