PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Tracey L McLellan
AU  - Audrey McKinlay
TI  - Does the way concussion is portrayed affect public awareness of appropriate concussion management: the case of rugby league
AID  - 10.1136/bjsm.2011.083618
DP  - 2011 Sep 01
TA  - British Journal of Sports Medicine
PG  - 993--996
VI  - 45
IP  - 12
4099  - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/45/12/993.short
4100  - http://bjsm.bmj.com/content/45/12/993.full
SO  - Br J Sports Med2011 Sep 01; 45
AB  - It is important to identify factors that might adversely affect appropriate medical consultation and management of concussion. One factor that might present a barrier to timely intervention is media portrayal of concussion in sporting events, such as professional rugby league. Accordingly, the current study employed a surveillance method of publicly available broadcast information to establish the incidence rate of probable concussion in the National Rugby League's Telstra Premiership 2010 season and examined how these injury events were shown to be managed with respect to return-to-play procedures. The incident rate for probable concussion was higher than previously reported: 11.10\1000 player hours (95% CI 5.78 to 16.40) and was likely underestimated. Importantly, most injured players were shown to continue playing or return to play despite being visibly concussed and described as such by the commentary team. Although ‘return-to-play decisions’ for professional players are guided by medical assessment, the authors discuss whether the way concussion is portrayed might affect public awareness of appropriate concussion management.