Type of Submission
Poster
Keywords
Concussion, return to play guidelines, athletes
Abstract
When an athlete suffers a concussion, the standard return to play (RTP) guidelines are that they must sit out a minimum of a week as they go through a slow progression of exertional and neurocognitive tests once they are asymptomatic. This is a great improvement to concussion treatment in the past where athletes were often dangerously returned. However, because of this “blanket” 7-day minimum return policy, we believe the current RTP guidelines are potentially leading athletes to hide their symptoms more so they do not have to sit out. Fifty-three athletes were surveyed from soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and football teams from 3 universities in Southwest Ohio (ages 18-22, 34=male, 19=female). The survey contained questions about their demographics, concussion symptom knowledge, concussion history, potential reporting of concussions, and opinion on their university’s return to play policy. The results showed that 40% of athletes would be willing to hide their symptoms of a mild concussion and 21% believe that their university’s return to play policy affects this decision. While the results do not completely confirm our hypothesis, we still believe that the numbers we received in our study are enough to warrant a consideration of the current “blanket statement” return to play policy in favor of a very similar but more individualized version.
Faculty Sponsor or Advisor’s Name
Amanda Meade, Dr. Elizabeth Sled
Campus Venue
Stevens Student Center
Location
Cedarville, OH
Start Date
4-16-2014 11:00 AM
End Date
4-16-2014 2:00 PM
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Concussion Return to Play Protocols Effect on Athletes' Reporting of Symptoms
Cedarville, OH
When an athlete suffers a concussion, the standard return to play (RTP) guidelines are that they must sit out a minimum of a week as they go through a slow progression of exertional and neurocognitive tests once they are asymptomatic. This is a great improvement to concussion treatment in the past where athletes were often dangerously returned. However, because of this “blanket” 7-day minimum return policy, we believe the current RTP guidelines are potentially leading athletes to hide their symptoms more so they do not have to sit out. Fifty-three athletes were surveyed from soccer, basketball, lacrosse, and football teams from 3 universities in Southwest Ohio (ages 18-22, 34=male, 19=female). The survey contained questions about their demographics, concussion symptom knowledge, concussion history, potential reporting of concussions, and opinion on their university’s return to play policy. The results showed that 40% of athletes would be willing to hide their symptoms of a mild concussion and 21% believe that their university’s return to play policy affects this decision. While the results do not completely confirm our hypothesis, we still believe that the numbers we received in our study are enough to warrant a consideration of the current “blanket statement” return to play policy in favor of a very similar but more individualized version.
