Continued play following adolescent sport-related concussion: Prospective data from the North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTex)

Abstract

Our study aims were to identify the frequency of continued play following sport-related concussion (SRC), defined as continuing athletic activity on the same day following a suspected SRC, characteristics associated with continued play, and whether continued play was associated with worse outcomes. A prospective study of participants ages 13–18 years diagnosed with SRC at a pediatric sports medicine clinic over a 4-year period was conducted. A comparison was performed between athletes who reported continued play following SRC (PLAY) and those who did not (NO PLAY). Of 441 participants, 231 (52.4%) were in the PLAY group. The PLAY group recalled less severe balance problems from the day of injury (p = 0.02), but reported greater symptoms of trouble falling asleep, concentrating, and remembering at their initial clinic visit (p < 0.05). There was no difference in recovery time between groups. Greater symptom severity score at the initial clinic visit and longer time to presentation were associated with prolonged recovery in both groups (p < 0.01). In conclusion, more than half of the athletes in this sample continued to play on the same day following SRC. Our results indicate the need for a heightened focus on education and additional efforts to reduce continued play following SRC in adolescents.

Keywords:

• Adolescent
• athlete
• concussion
• sport-related concussion
• continue to play
• recovery

Acknowledgments

Thank you to Dr. Chanhee Jo for her analysis of the data and contribution to the study.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The North Texas Concussion Registry (ConTex) was supported by funds from the Texas Institute for Brain Injury and Repair (TIBIR), a state-funded initiative as part of the Peter J. O’Donnell Jr. Brain Institute at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Support for the use of REDCap came from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health under award [number UL1TR001105].