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12.5 Same-year repeat concussion in national collegiate athletic association (NCAA) division 1 autonomy five American football programs during 2018
  1. James Clugston1,2,
  2. Zac Houck3,
  3. Robert Fitch4,5,
  4. Brian Hainline6,7,8
  1. 1Department of Community Health and Family Medicine, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
  2. 2Department of Neurology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
  3. 3Department of Clinical and Health Psychology, University of Florida, Gainesville, Florida, USA
  4. 4Department of Emergency Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
  5. 5Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee, USA
  6. 6National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA
  7. 7Department of Neurology, New York University, New York, New York, USA
  8. 8Department of Neurology, Indiana University, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA

Abstract

Objective To estimate the occurrence of same-year repeat concussion among American football programs of the NCAA Autonomy Five Conferences (A5) in 2018.

Design Survey questions pertaining to same-year repeat concussion at each program during the 2018 football year (winter conditioning – bowl game) were analyzed.

Setting A football safety meeting sponsored by the NFL and the NCAA was held June 2019 in Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.

Participants The head athletic trainer and team physicians from A5 universities.

Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) Attendees from each institution were surveyed regarding the occurrence of repeat concussions to the same individual at their institution in 2018. Each institution provided one response.

Outcome Measures Quantification of the occurrence of repeat concussions in NCAA A5 American football programs during 2018.

Main Results Medical staff from 41 (63.1%) of 65 A5 football programs completed the same-year repeat concussion portion of the survey. Participating universities reported 40 repeat concussions in the 2018 football year with 56% having at least one athlete sustain a same-year repeat concussion. The extrapolated number of same-year repeat concussions among all A5 programs (63.4) equates to a rate of 0.99 same-year repeat concussion per university during 2018. Of all football related concussions in 2018, 6.8% (63.4/937) were same-year repeat injuries.

Conclusions This study, based on information directly reported by sports health providers at A5 institutions, estimates same-year repeat concussion rates of NCAA A5 football programs for 2018 to be higher than suspected based on recent literature of A5 and non-A5 football programs (6.8% vs 3.85%1). It may provide a benchmark for comparison and allow assessment of the effectiveness of future safety measures implemented after 2018.

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