High concussion rate in student community Rugby Union players during the 2018 season : implications for future research directions

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dc.contributor.authorBrown, James Craigen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStarling, Lindsay Toyahen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStokes, Keithen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorViviers, Pierreen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJordaan, Esmeen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorSurmon, Seanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorDerman, Elton Wayneen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2021-07-06T12:03:57Z
dc.date.available2021-07-06T12:03:57Z
dc.date.issued2019-12-04
dc.descriptionCITATION: Brown, J. C. et al. 2019. High concussion rate in student community Rugby Union players during the 2018 season : implications for future research directions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13:423, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2019.00423.en_ZA
dc.descriptionThe original publication is available at https://www.frontiersin.orgen_ZA
dc.description.abstractCollision sports, such as Rugby Union (“Rugby”) have a particularly high risk of injury. Of all injuries common to collision sports, concussions have received the most attention due to the potentially negative cognitive effects in the short- and long-term. Despite non-professional Rugby players comprising the majority of the world’s playing population, there is relatively little research in this population. Stellenbosch Rugby Football Club (“Maties”), the official rugby club of Stellenbosch University, represents one of the world’s largest non-professional Rugby clubs, making this an ideal cohort for community-level injury surveillance. The aim of this study was to describe the incidence and events associated with concussion in this cohort. Baseline demographics were obtained on the 807 male student Rugby non-professional players who registered for the 10-week long 2018 season, which comprised 101 matches and 2,915 of exposure hours. All match-related injuries were captured by the medical staff of Stellenbosch Campus Health Service on an electronic form developed from the consensus statement for injury recording in Rugby. The mean age, height and weight of this cohort were 20 2 years, 182 7 cm and 88 14 kg, respectively. Overall, there were 89 time-loss injuries, which equated to an injury rate of 30.6 per 1,000 match hours [95% confidence intervals (CIs): 24.2–36.9], or about one injury per match. The most common injury diagnosis was “concussion” (n = 27 out of 90 injuries, 30%), at a rate of 9.3 per 1,000 match hours (95% CIs: 5.8–12.8). The three most common mechanisms of concussion in the present study were performing a tackle (33%), accidental collision (30%) and being tackled (11%). Concussion was the most common injury in this population, at a rate that was six times higher than the most comparable study from the UK, which had far more exposure time over six seasons and wider range of player ability, from recreational to semi-professional. This might be explained by the training and vigilance of the club’s first aiders observing all matches for concussion. Future studies should try to explain this high rate and subsequently reduce these concussions. The addition of video surveillance data would assist in identifying the etiology of these concussions injuries in order to develop specific targeted interventions.en_ZA
dc.description.urihttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fnhum.2019.00423/full
dc.description.versionPublisher's versionen_ZA
dc.format.extent7 pages
dc.identifier.citationBrown, J. C. et al. 2019. High concussion rate in student community Rugby Union players during the 2018 season : implications for future research directions. Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, 13:423, doi:10.3389/fnhum.2019.00423.en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn1662-5161 (online)
dc.identifier.otherdoi:10.3389/fnhum.2019.00423
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/110643
dc.language.isoen_ZAen_ZA
dc.publisherFrontiersen_ZA
dc.rights.holderAuthors retain copyrighten_ZA
dc.subjectRugby Union football -- Stellenbosch University -- 2018 seasonen_ZA
dc.subjectRugby football injuries -- Health risk assessmenten_ZA
dc.subjectBlunt traumaen_ZA
dc.subjectBlunt impact traumaen_ZA
dc.subjectTackling (Football) -- Risk assessmenten_ZA
dc.titleHigh concussion rate in student community Rugby Union players during the 2018 season : implications for future research directionsen_ZA
dc.typeArticleen_ZA
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