TY - JOUR PY - 2021// TI - Participation in pre-injury level sport one-year following sport-related concussion: a prospective, matched cohort study JO - Journal of science and medicine in sport A1 - Büttner, Fionn A1 - Howell, David R. A1 - Iverson, Grant L. A1 - Doherty, Cailbhe A1 - Blake, Catherine A1 - Ryan, John A1 - Delahunt, Eamonn SP - ePub EP - ePub VL - ePub IS - ePub N2 - OBJECTIVES: To estimate the times taken to receive clearance to return to sporting activity and to return to pre-injury level of sport competition following sport-related concussion, and to estimate the proportion of athletes who were participating at their pre-injury level of sport competition six months and one-year following sport-related concussion.

DESIGN: Prospective cohort study.

METHODS: Amateur, adult athletes (16-38 years old) were diagnosed with sport-related concussion at a university-affiliated hospital emergency department. Participants were assessed within one-week, upon medical clearance to return to sporting activity, two weeks following return to sporting activity, six months, and 12 months following sport-related concussion. We assessed sex-, age-, and activity-matched non-injured, control participants at matched time-points. Participants were asked during each study assessment whether they were participating in any sport, in a different sport than before their sport-related concussion, in the same sport but at a lower level of competition than before their sport-related concussion, or in the same sport at the same level of competition than before their sport-related concussion.

RESULTS: Fifty concussed participants and 50 non-injured, control participants completed the study. The median times taken to receive clearance to return to sporting activity and to return to pre-injury level of sport competition following sport-related concussion were 13 days (95%CI=12,16) and 31 days (95%CI=28,32), respectively. One-year following sport-related concussion, 52% of participants reported that they were no longer participating in the same sport and at the same level of competition as they were before their sport-related concussion, compared with only 24% of participants in the non-injured, control group (p=0.003).

CONCLUSIONS: A greater percentage of athletes in the concussion group were not participating at their perceived pre-injury level of sport competition one-year following sport-related concussion compared with a non-injured control group. Factors that explain the lower proportion of amateur athletes participating at their pre-injury level of sport competition one-year after sport-related concussion are likely multifaceted and should be considered in future investigations.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 1440-2440 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jsams.2020.12.014 ID - ref1 ER -