Objective To assess the 52-week incidence proportion and incidence rate of sports-related concussion (SRC) among elite Para athletes, and to analyze the injury mechanisms.

Design Prospective study with weekly self-reports using an eHealth application adapted to Para athletes.

Setting Swedish Para sport.

Participants 70 male and 37 female Swedish elite Para athletes (median age 29 years) with vision, physical and intellectual impairment

Interventions (or Assessment of Risk Factors) Not applicable.

Outcome Measures Descriptive statistics were used to assess the incidence rate and incidence proportion. Chi-square statistics were used to analyze differences in the proportion of SRC.

Main Results A total of 13 SRC were reported; three athletes each sustained two SRC. The incidence proportion was 9.3% (95% CI 4.8–16.7), and the incidence rate 0.5 SRC/1000 hours (95% CI 0.3–0.9) of sports exposure. Athletes with vision impairment and female athletes reported a significantly higher proportion of SRC. A majority of the injuries (n=9; 69%) occurred during sport specific training. The injury mechanisms were collision with object (n=7; 54%), collision with person (n=4; 31%), and poor playing field conditions (n=2; 16%).

Conclusions The incidence of concussion among elite Para athletes is comparable to sports for able-bodied athletes. Athletes with vision impairment and female athletes reported a significantly higher incidence of SRC, and collisions were the most common injury mechanism. These results can form the basis for future preventive research studies.

This abstract has been published in full manuscript format and has the following citation: BMJ Citation https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34185611/